Alcoa to Curtail Refining Capacity

 

 

The curtailments will reduce Alcoa’s refining capacity in the Atlantic region by about 4 percent and are already underway. The Atlantic region represents about 50 percent of Alcoa’s total global refining capacity of 18 million metric tons per year.

 

 

“Alcoa is taking these steps to avoid aggravating alumina oversupply in the Atlantic region and to enhance the efficiency of our refining system,” said Chris Ayers, president of Alcoa’s Global Primary Products. “We will continue to monitor market conditions and will take further action if warranted.”

 

 

In January of this year, Alcoa announced the closure or curtailment of 531,000 metric tons of smelting capacity. Of that, 291,000 represented the permanent closure of capacity in Tennessee and Texas that had been idled since 2009. Another 240,000 metric tons, or 5 percent of Alcoa’s smelting capacity, represented curtailments to be taken in Portovesme, Italy and La Coru?a and Aviles, Spain.

 

 

Alcoa has reached agreement with government authorities and unions in both Italy and Spain on the curtailments. The 90,000 metric ton curtailment in the Spanish smelters has started and is scheduled to be complete by the first half of this year. The smelter in Portovesme, Italy, with a capacity of 150,000 metric tons, will finalize curtailment by the end of the year.

 

 

About Alcoa

 

 

Alcoa is the world’s leading producer of primary and fabricated aluminum, as well as the world’s largest miner of bauxite and refiner of alumina. In addition to inventing the modern-day aluminum industry, Alcoa innovation has been behind major milestones in the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation, consumer electronics and industrial markets over the past 120 years. Among the solutions Alcoa markets are flat-rolled products, hard alloy extrusions, and forgings, as well as Alcoa  wheels, fastening systems, precision and investment castings, and building systems in addition to its expertise in other light metals such as titanium and nickel-based super alloys. Sustainability is an integral part of Alcoa’s operating practices and the product design and engineering it provides to customers. Alcoa has been a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for 10 consecutive years and approximately 75 percent of all of the aluminum ever produced since 1888 is still in active use today. Alcoa employs approximately 61,000 people in 31 countries across the world.