Alcan Announces Price Increase.

Business Editors

CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 26, 2000

Alcan Aluminum Corporation announced today that it is increasing the fabrication conversion price on its range of North American rigid beverage container sheet products to better reflect the highly engineered product attributes being provided to the beverage can industry.

Stephen J. Bettcher, President, Global Can, said, "In publishing these new prices, Alcan has reaffirmed its need to earn its cost of capital in order to maintain its strategic commitment to the aluminum can through continued investment in quality, service and product development initiatives. Moreover, the industry is being faced with rising costs for transportation, and other supplies and services."

The scope of the pricing changes includes a fixed increase per pound for base reference gauges in each product, an increased gauge differential from base reference gauges and a new extra for narrow width products.

Alcan's new prices include a 1.4 cent per pound increase on the reference can body stock gauge of 0.0114 inch and a 2.8 cent per pound increase on the reference gauge of 0.0110 inch end and tab stock.

The gauge differential increase ranges from 0.4 to 0.8 cents per pound for can body stock, and from 2.0 to 2.5 cents per pound for can end and tab stock for the most commonly used gauges. These changes align pricing closer to the cost of producing the lighter gauges, and recognize the required capacity utilization and investment in automation control systems to supply thin gauge products at a premium quality level.

The new width premium of 1 cent per pound for can body stock of less than 65 inches wide, and 2 cents per pound for can end products of less than 55 inches wide reflects these products' less efficient mill capacity utilization and their resulting higher costs of production.

The effective date of the increases is with shipments on or after January 1, 2001 reflecting current supply chain commitments.

Alcan last announced increases in can sheet conversion pricing in 1994. The company noted that the new prices, when coupled with long-term average metal costs of 72 to 75 cents per pound, represent an average increase in can stock prices of less than 1 percent per year for the past five years.

Alcan Aluminum Corporation is the U.S. subsidiary of Alcan Aluminium Limited. With operations in over 30 countries, Alcan is one of the most international aluminum companies in the world. It is a leading producer of primary metal and a global producer and marketer of can sheet and other fabricated aluminum products, and the world's largest recycler of aluminum beverage cans.