Alcoa to permanently pull down the shutters at Suralco alumina refinery

<p>Alcoa Corporation announced on Tuesday that it will permanently close the Suralco alumina refinery and bauxite mines in Suriname, which has been curtailed since November 2015.<br /><br />The Suriname government and Alcoa will continue to work on the agreement concerning Suralco&rsquo;s remaining activities in Suriname, and till the time a decision is reached on the agreement, Alcoa will continue to operate the Afobaka hydroelectric facility, the power supplier to the Suralco alumina refinery. <br /><br /><img style="vertical-align: middle; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/Suralco%20alumina.jpg" alt="News" width="517" height="226" /><br />With the closure of Suralco operations, Alcoa expects to record $90-million after-tax and charges related to the restructuring activities during fourth-quarter of the current fiscal. Alcoa&rsquo;s share is estimated to be $151-million over five years, with $27-million to be spent in 2017.<br /><br />The company also expects to record a $31-million after-tax charge to impair gas exploration assets in Western Australia. The overall impact of the charges is estimated to be $0.66 a share.<br /><br />{googleAdsense}<br /><br />Alcoa said that the Q4 2016-17 financial results are not expected to be impacted on by the power outage at the Portland Aluminium smelter in Victoria, Australia.<br /><br />AofA and Suralco are part of the Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals (AWAC) group of companies owned 60 percent by Alcoa and 40 per cent by Alumina Limited.</p>