Hronn Petursdottir Joins Alcoa Fjardaal As Human Resource and Community Relations Manager.

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PITTSBURGH & REYKJAVIK, Iceland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 23, 2004

Alcoa (NYSE:AA) announced today that effective May 4, 2004, Hronn Petursdottir, 37, will join the company as human resources and community relations manager at Fjardaal, Alcoa's planned new 322,000-metric-ton-per-year aluminum smelter in East Iceland. Ms. Petursdottir currently is an independent management consultant in Iceland, most recently involved in the creation of an innovative secondary school in the Snaefellsnes region. She previously worked for IMG, the largest research and consulting company in Iceland, directing a new business initiative.

"The combination of Hronn's business management skills and proven ability to interact with government and community organizations, makes her an excellent addition to our Fjardaal team, where she will be involved in the introduction and integration of Alcoa into Iceland," said Tomas Mar Sigurdsson, managing director of Fjardaal. Ms. Petursdottir will be located in East Iceland.

Alcoa's Fjardaal aluminum facility is part of the most extensive single investment in the history of Iceland and is being designed to be one of the most environmentally friendly aluminum production facilities in the world. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2005 and production is expected to start in 2007.

Following is biographical information on Ms. Petursdottir:

Hronn Petursdottir

Hronn Petursdottir is joining Alcoa in May 2004 as human resources and community relations manager at Alcoa's Fjardaal aluminum smelter located in East Iceland. Ms. Petursdottir has worked since 2002 as an independent management consultant where her responsibilities included overseeing the design and preparation of the establishment of an innovative secondary school based on a new learning model located in the Snaefellsnes Region of Iceland. Earlier, she was employed by IMG, the largest research and consulting company in Iceland.

Ms. Petursdottir's experience in human resource practices and communications began when she served as personnel and administrative manager for the Icelandic Broadcasting Corporation Inc., in 1992. She later was program executive for the European Region of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, where she led development and training issues for 42 countries with up to 750,000 members per country. From 1997 until 1999, Ms. Petursdottir served in the elected position of secretary general for the European Youth Forum/Youth Forum of the European Union in Belgium, a European pan political interest group that involved lobbying and consultancy functions with the European Union, Council of Europe and the United Nations.

Ms. Petursdottir, who is fluent in Icelandic and English, received a bachelor's degree in communications from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pa., USA in 1990. She obtained a M.B.A. degree from the University of Iceland in 2002, with emphasis on strategic performance management. Ms. Petursdottir is a national board member of the Icelandic Boy and Girl Scout Association. She previously was a member of the board of the educational working group of the Icelandic Quality Association and was the Founding President of the Student Advisory Board for the Communications Department at Duquesne University.

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