Fire-hit metal plant on schedule

Managers at Anglesey Aluminium say the plant will be back to full production by the end of the year, following a fire in June. Operations at the plant near Holyhead were cut by two-thirds after the fire in an electricity transformer. The company, which employs 540 people, said one production line was now back to half capacity. However, more work needs to be carried out before a second line can be put back into operation. "With safety at the forefront, our employees are working hard and it is a credit to them that we are on schedule", said David Bloor, the company's managing director. The plant is the island's biggest electricity user, supplied directly by Wylfa nuclear power station. But the blaze at the transformer has meant the site has been forced to cut its power demands, leaving the aluminium smelter running at just a third of its full capacity. Further maintenance work has been scheduled for later in August which will enable the second production line to resume. The company, which is jointly owned by the Rio Tinto corporation and Kaiser Aluminium, said it was confident that the restart programme would see full production return to the site by the end of the year. --BBC News