China Aluminium Network
Alcoa drops Iceland smelter plan
Edited by : AL CIRCLE
1 min read
Alcoa , the largest U.S. aluminum producer, has dropped long-held plans to develop a new smelter in Iceland, saying on Monday it had decided it could not get long-term, cheap power for the project.
The decision to cancel the smelter will be a blow to Iceland, still recovering from a deep recession caused by the collapse of the financial sector in late 2008.
"At this time, we are unable to acquire the amount of power we need at a competitive price, in order to consider building a smelter in Bakki," said Tomas Sigurdsson, managing director of Alcoa in Iceland.
Alcoa has been hit by the global economic slowdown which has hurt demand and knocked prices for aluminium lower. Aluminum prices fell almost 20 percent in the third quarter on global economic concerns.
Iceland's economy collapsed in late 2008, brought down by a financial sector that dwarfed other activities.The island nation of 320,000 was forced to go to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.
While that programme finished recently, the country still has capital controls in place and has struggled to attract foreign investment,which means the economy remains fragile.
The decision to cancel the smelter will be a blow to Iceland, still recovering from a deep recession caused by the collapse of the financial sector in late 2008.
"At this time, we are unable to acquire the amount of power we need at a competitive price, in order to consider building a smelter in Bakki," said Tomas Sigurdsson, managing director of Alcoa in Iceland.
Alcoa has been hit by the global economic slowdown which has hurt demand and knocked prices for aluminium lower. Aluminum prices fell almost 20 percent in the third quarter on global economic concerns.
Iceland's economy collapsed in late 2008, brought down by a financial sector that dwarfed other activities.The island nation of 320,000 was forced to go to the International Monetary Fund for a bailout.
While that programme finished recently, the country still has capital controls in place and has struggled to attract foreign investment,which means the economy remains fragile.
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