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Business Group Profile
''Sustainability is at the heart of
the Primary Metal group in all regions. As we have progressively
implemented a sustainability approach in our facilities
we have taken into account the needs and interests of
all our various stakeholders in our decision-making
process and in our day-to-day operations."
"By doing so, we have also taken
a leadership role in the reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions, made significant progress in the area of
environment, health and safety, and our plants have
become increasingly energy-efficient and more competitive.
We are also very active in the communities where we
operate through dynamic community investment projects
and significant employee involvement."
– Cynthia Carroll, President and Chief Executive
Officer, Alcan Primary Metal
Alcan, the second-largest primary aluminum producer
in the world, manufactures commercial-grade ingot for
sale on the London Metal Exchange in addition to developing
value-added products for customers in the transportation,
building and construction, consumer goods and machinery
markets. The Alcan Primary Metal group is a major supplier
to independent extruders and foundries around the globe
and also operates anode production facilities in the
Netherlands and Canada and aluminum fluoride plants
in Sweden and Canada.
The Primary Metal group includes all Alcan's aluminum
smelting facilities and power generation installations.
Approximately 40% of Alcan's primary smelting capacity
is powered by owned energy sources,
including low-cost electricity produced at hydroelectric
generating plants in Canada, the UK and Brazil. In Canada,
where approximately 45% of the Company's metal is produced,
Alcan owns hydroelectric facilities in both British
Columbia and Quebec, supplying most of the group's power
needs. For smelters outside Canada, electricity is obtained
from the "grid" and a variety of sources including
thermal, coal-fired and hydroelectric sources.
Alcan operates with a large share of low-cost smelting
capacity compared to our competitors and we have reinforced
this position as a result of our focus on Maximizing
Value and Continuous Improvement. These efforts are
complemented by the group's commitment to EHS FIRST
and by our actions to reduce our environmental releases.
As a result of the Pechiney transaction, Alcan acquired
eight electrometallurgy facilities (seven in France
and one in South Africa) where ferroalloys, silicon,
specialty silicon alloys and recycled magnesium are
produced. Alcan's leadership low-cost position in primary
metal production is enhanced by the addition of Pechiney's
technological expertise. This has positioned the Company
as the global leader and supplier of choice to the aluminum
industry with state-of-the-art products such as the
new AP50 smelting technology that is expected to reduce
investment costs, increase production capacity and further
reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2003, the Primary Metal group produced 3,348,990
tonnes of primary aluminum. Alcan's Primary Metal group
has approximately 20,000 employees in its power, smelting
and related technology interests in 15 countries.
Consult Alcan
Facts 2004 for more information on this Business
Group.
Primary Metal group facilities
by country: |
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2003 |
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| Australia |
2 |
| Brazil |
3 |
| Cameroon |
1 |
| Canada |
21 |
| China |
2 |
| France |
12 |
| Greece |
1 |
| Iceland |
1 |
| Netherlands |
3 |
| Norway |
2 |
| Sweden |
1 |
| Switzerland |
2 |
| United Kingdom |
3 |
| United States |
1 |
| South Africa |
2 |
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57 |
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Primary Metal Profile |
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Products/Services |
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Aluminum sheet ingot, extrusion billet,
wire rod and foundry ingot, engineering services,
trading operations, port and railway facilities,
Electro metallurgy, ECL, R&D, technology sales,
coke calcination, anodes |
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Number and type
of facilities
(including partial holdings) |
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26 aluminum smelters
12 power generation plants (includes joint ventures)
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Markets served |
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Consumer goods, transportation, building
and construction, machinery end markets, aluminum
producers (smelter technology) |
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Major customers |
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Alcan Rolled Products |
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% 2003 revenues |
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19 |
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Number of employees |
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Approx. 20,000 |
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