Alcoa Halts Modernization Project at Baie-Comeau.BAIE-COMEAU -- Alcoa (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :AA) today announced that, despite several months of hard work and good-faith negotiations between the company and the Quebec Government, the parties have not been able to generate the conditions that could lead to an agreement. As a result, Alcoa will not implement its proposed plan to modernize its Baie-Comeau smelter. "For many reasons, it was it was very difficult to make the decision not to go forward. First of all, we will not meet the expectations of our employees and the community who supported this project with a lot of hard work and determination. And, we will miss an opportunity to ensure the long-term survival of the smelter at a time when economic conditions are favourable," said Mr. Jean-Pierre Gilardeau, President of Alcoa Canada Primary Metals. Mr. Gilardeau met with the leaders from the Baie-Comeau Smelter Modernization Coalition to inform them of Alcoa's decision. At the meeting, Mr. Gilardeau shared the company's admiration and appreciation for these leaders who rallied the community around the project. "I fully understand their disappointment, and I share it since we have spent the last three years working to make these projects a reality and launch expansion in Quebec." "We could not reach an agreement on a formula that would have ensured long-term affordable energy for the Baie-Comeau modernization project," stated Mr. Gilardeau. "With energy representing more than 30% of our operating costs operating costs npl → gastos mpl operacionales , we simply cannot invest a billion dollars in a project with the risk that energy prices will rise considerably over the life of that project," added Mr. Gilardeau. "Over 40-years, even with only moderate increases, energy would represent a 10-billion dollar cost." The Baie-Comeau modernization project would have included replacing the Soderberg cells with a more modern technology and upgrading the Prebake sector. Despite this situation, Alcoa intends to keep the Smelter in operation at least until 2010, as long as environmental requirements, energy availability and market conditions will allow. The eventual closure of the Soderberg cells would result in layoffs, but it is still too early to know to what extent. Alcoa has recently announced other smelting smelting, in metallurgy, any process of melting or fusion, especially to extract a metal from its ore. Smelting processes vary in detail depending on the nature of the ore and the metal involved, but they are typified in the use of the blast furnace. growth projects around the world, including those in Iceland, Trinidad, Brazil, Bahrain, Brunei, China and Australia. With more than 5000 employees and five billion dollars invested in Quebec in its three aluminum smelters and in its transformation plants, Alcoa has and is determined to maintain a strong presence in industrial Quebec. Very active in Quebec regions This is a list of regions in Quebec. The province of Quebec, Canada, is officially divided into seventeen administrative regions. Traditionally (and non-officially) it is divided into around twenty regions. , the company will pursue its role of economic generator. Background The modernization of the Baie-Comeau Smelter and the expansion of the Deschambault Smelter were the keystone of Alcoa Canada Primary Metals' expansion strategy, and it would have made Quebec the operational centre of gravity centre of gravity Noun the point in an object around which its mass is evenly distributed Noun 1. centre of gravity for Alcoa's North American North American named after North America. North American blastomycosis see North American blastomycosis. North American cattle tick see boophilusannulatus. aluminum production. With other planned investments in aluminum transformation and related sectors in the province, the implementation of this strategy would have resulted in total Alcoa investments of $3 billion in Quebec. Alcoa is the world's leading producer and manager of primary aluminum, fabricated fab·ri·cate tr.v. fab·ri·cat·ed, fab·ri·cat·ing, fab·ri·cates 1. To make; create. 2. To construct by combining or assembling diverse, typically standardized parts: aluminum and alumina alumina (əl  `mĭnə) or aluminum oxide, Al2O3, chemical compound with m.p. about 2,000°C; and sp. gr. about 4.0. facilities, and is active in all major aspects of the industry. Alcoa serves the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation and industrial markets, bringing design, engineering, production and other capabilities of Alcoa's businesses to customers. In addition to aluminum products and components, Alcoa also markets consumer brands including Reynolds Wrap(R) foils and plastic wraps, Alcoa(R) wheels, and Baco(R) household wraps. Among its other businesses are vinyl siding Wikipedia is not the place for advertisement or self-advertising. Vinyl siding, first introduced to the exterior cladding market in the late 1950s, is an alternative to aluminum siding, fiber cement siding, and timber siding. , closures, fastening systems, precision castings, and electrical distribution systems for cars and trucks. The company has 120,000 employees in 41 countries and has been a member of the Dow Jones Industrial Average Dow Jones Industrial AverageThe best known U.S. index of stocks. A price-weighted average of 30 actively traded blue-chip stocks, primarily industrials including stocks that trade on the New York Stock Exchange. for 45 years and the Dow Jones Dow Jones the best known of several U.S. indexes of movements in price on Wall Street. [Am. Hist.: Payton, 202] See : Finance Sustainability Indexes since 2001. More information can be found at www.alcoa.com |
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