Noranda announces initial intercontinental alumina shipment to Chinese aluminum smelter

Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation announced today that it has completed a 31,000 metric tonne shipment of smelter grade alumina from its alumina refinery in Gramercy, Louisiana to an aluminum smelter in China. This shipment, which is part of a multi-shipment export arrangement at market prices, marks the first export shipment outside of North America in Gramercy's 58-year history.

"This export shipment is an important step in improving the long-term sustainability of our Gramercy alumina refinery," said Layle K. "Kip" Smith, Noranda's President and Chief Executive Officer. "By demonstrating sustained improvement in its process control and operational reliability, Gramercy generated sufficient production to meet the needs of its existing customers and expand the geographic scope of its customer base. In a volatile aluminum environment, I'm proud of the Gramercy team's success in improving the cost profile of our Alumina business and creating additional flexibility for Noranda."

Noranda's alumina refinery is situated along the Mississippi River approximately 45 miles up-river from New Orleans, Louisiana, Oceangoing freighters supply the refinery with bauxite from Noranda's bauxite mining operation in Jamaica. Utilizing the Bayer refining process to chemically extract alumina from bauxite, Gramercy has an aggregate annual production capacity of 1.2 million metric tonnes of alumina, including smelter grade alumina and alumina hydrate, or chemical grade alumina.