ALUMINUM—2000 6.1 

# A LUMINUM

By Patricia A. Plunkert

Domestic survey data and tables were prep ared by Micheal George, statistical assist ant, and the world production table was prepared by Linder Roberts, in ternational data coordinator.

In 2000, 12 domestic companies operated 23 primary aluminum reduction plants that produced almost 3.7 million metric tons (Mt) of metal. Montana, Oregon, and Washington accounted for 36% of the production; Maryland, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia, 22%; and other States, 42%. The value was estimated to be $6 billion.

Increased energy costs, particul arly in the Pacific Northwest, led several aluminum smelters to reduce production capacity during the latter half of the year. By yearend, a total of 729,000 tons per year (t/yr) of primary smelter capacity had been closed, about 45% of the 1.62 milli on tons per year (Mt/yr) of engineered capacity for the 10 smelters operating in the region.

Aluminum recovered from purchased scrap decreased by 7% to 3.45 Mt. Of this recovered metal, 60% came from new (manufacturing) scrap and 40% from old (discarded aluminum products) scrap. Aluminum us ed beverage can (UBC) scrap accounted for more than one-half of the reported old scrap consumption in 2000. The recycling rate for aluminum UBCs remained relatively stable at 62.1%.

The transportation and the container and packaging industries remained the largest domestic markets for aluminum products in 2000. The transportation industry accounted for 37% of domestic consumption; containers and packaging, 23%; building and construction, 15%; consumer durables, 8%; electrical, 8%; and other uses, 9%.

U.S. imports for consumption decreased in 2000 compared with those of 1999, reversing a 3-year upward trend that began in 1997. Canada remained the largest shipper of aluminum materials to the United States, followed by Russia. Total exports from the United States increased 7% in 2000. The price of primary ingot on the domestic and the international markets fluctuated during the year. The 2000 monthly average domestic price d ecreased by almost 6 cents per pound from January to December. The annual average, however, increased compared withthat of the previous year.

At the end of 2000, world inventories, as reported by the International Aluminium Institute (IAI), decreased slightly compared with those of 1999. Inventories of primary metal held by the London Metal Exchange Ltd. (LME) decreased dramatically, whereas inventorie s of aluminum alloy increased.

Primary aluminum was produced in 43 countries in 2000. The United States remained th e largest producer with 15% of the world total, followed by Russia with 14%, China with an estimated 11%, and Canada with 10%. World primary metal production increased by about 2% compared with that of 1999.

Production

Primary .—Domestic primary aluminum production, which totaled a reported 3,668,438 metric tons (t), decreased by 3% compared with that of 1999 (table 1). Production data were obtained from the 12 domestic producers, all of whom responded to the request from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for data.

On May 3, 2000, Alcoa Inc. and Reynolds Metals Co. announced that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the European Union (EU) had approved their proposed merger and that the merger had been completed. Reynolds shareholders had

Aluminum in the 20th Century

Aluminum is the second most abundant metallic element in the earth’s crust after silicon, yet it is a comparatively new industrial metal that has been produced in commercial quantities for just over 100 years. In April 1886, a formal patent application was filed that permitted, for the first time, the mass commercial production of aluminum. In 1900, the Pittsburgh Reduction Company (Alcoa Inc.) was the sole domestic producer of primary aluminum metal, and production had grown to 3,244 metric tons (7.15 million pounds) from 83 pounds in 1883. World production in 1900 totaled 7,339 tons and took pl ace at nine reduction plants owned by six companies in four countries. The United States was the leading producer, followed by Switzerland (2,500 tons), France (1,026 tons), and the United Kingdom (569 tons). The metal was used mainly as a substitute for copper in the transmission of electric ity and for culinary articles, machinery parts, special alloys , explosives, paint, and as a substitute for stone and zinc in lithographic work.

In 2000, the United States remained the world’s largest producer and consumer of aluminum; however, its dominance in the industry had eroded over the last 40 years of the century. At the close of World War II, domestic primary aluminum production accounted fo r over 40% of the world’s production. In 2000, primary aluminum was produced in 43 countries, and the United Stat es accounted for only about 15% of the 24 million tons of production. Since the inception of the aluminum industry, metal has been recovered from scrap and its importance as a source of aluminum supply continues to grow. In 2000, metal recovered from scrap accounted for about 35% of the domestic supply of aluminum. Energy costs and concerns over waste management will continue to provide the impetus for increased recycling rates. Today, aluminum is used in a wide range of applications, such as automobiles, airplanes, buildings, tools, appliances, packaging, electrical systems, and countless other components of everyday life. Measured either in quantity or value, aluminum’s use exceeds that of any other metal except steel, and it is important in virtually all segments of the world economy.U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MINERALS YEARBOOK—2000 6.2 approved the merger on February 11. Under the terms of the consent decree entered into with the DOJ and an undertaking agreement with the EU, Alcoa wa s forced to sell a 25% interest in Reynolds’ Longview, WA, smelter, as well as Reynolds’ interests in three alumina refi neries—Worsley, Australia (56%); Stade, Germany (50%); and Sherwin, TX (100%). As a result of the merger, each outstanding share of Reynolds common stock was converted into 1.06 shares of Alcoa common stock (Alcoa Inc., 2000g).

On June 1, Alcan Aluminium Ltd. and algroup, the aluminum division of Alusuisse Lonza Group Inc., announced that, following the approval of the DOJ and the EU, the companies had reached agreement on their me rger plan (Alcan Aluminium Ltd., 2000a). The EU gave its approval subject to commitments made by the companies to alleviate the EU’s competition concerns in the aluminium trihydrate (ATH) market. Among its commitments, Alcan proposed selling algroup’s ATH facility in Martinswerk, Germany, and the algroup lithography operations in Bridgenorth, United Kingdom (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000j). The merger, which involved the combination of a cash payment and the exchange of 17.1 Alcan common shares for every algroup share, was finalized on October 17 (Alcan Aluminium Ltd., 2000h).

Increased energy costs, particul arly in the Pacific Northwest, led several aluminum smelters to reduce production capacity during the latter half of the year. By yearend, a total of 729,000 t/yr of primary smelter capacity had been closed, about 45% of the 1.62 Mt/yr of engineered capacity for the 10 smelters operating in the region. Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. had idled two and one-half of its five potlines at its 168,000-t/yr Columbia Falls, MT, smelter and temporarily reduced production capacity by 84,000 t/yr (Metal Bulletin, 2000i). Northwest Aluminum Corp. closed its 82,000-t/yr smelter in The Dalles, OR (Metal Bulletin, 2000j). Goldendale Aluminum Co. idled all but 25,000 t/yr of capacity at its 168,000-t/yr smelter in Goldendale, WA (Metal Bulletin, 2000j). Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. closed its 73,000-t/yr Tacoma, WA, smelter and idled 110,000 t/yr of capacity at its 200,000- t/yr smelter in Spokane (Mead), WA (Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., 2000b). Alcoa temporarily idled its 121,000- t/yr smelter in Troutdale, OR (Alcoa Inc., 2000j), and Vanalco Inc. idled its 116,000-t/yr smelter in Vancouver, WA (Metal Bulletin, 2000v).

In June, Ormet Primary Aluminum Corp. temporarily closed two potlines at its 257,000-t/yr smelter in Hannibal, OH, resulting in a loss of 7,000 metric tons per month (t/mo) of aluminum metal production. The decision to close was based on low aluminum prices, higher than usual alumina prices, and higher electrical energy prices in the peak summer months. During the closure, the company sold its excess alumina and electricity (Ormet Primary Aluminum Corp., 2000b). In August, Ormet announced the rest art of the two idled potlines, which were back in operation by the end of September (Ormet Primary Aluminum Corp., 2000a).

Alcan restarted 60,000 t/yr of capacity at its 186,000-t/yr primary aluminum smelter in Sebree, KY, to meet increased customer demand and to compensate for smelter closures in Canada and the United Kingdom. The restart was completed by yearend (Alcan Aluminium Ltd., 2000f).

In January, Alcoa announced plans to restart 200,000 t/yr of primary aluminum smelter capacity by the end of the year. The restarts would be spread over the 450,000-t/yr of capacity that had been idled since 1994 and was expected to involve lowcost, operating smelters in the United States and Australia (Alcoa Inc., 2000k).

Alcoa and Michigan Avenue Partners (MAP) announced that they had reached an agreement whereby MAP would acquire the 204,000-t/yr aluminum smelter in Longview, WA. Alcoa was required to sell 25% of L ongview as a condition of the EU approval of the Alcoa/Reynol ds merger, but Alcoa accepted MAP’s offer to purchase the entire operation. MAP is a Chicago investment group. On e of its affiliates, McCook Metals L.L.C. is the second largest aluminum plate company in North America and produces specialty products for aircraft, aerospace, and defense industries. The sale was contingent on financing and regulatory a pproval (Alcoa Inc., 2000m). Century Aluminum Co. purchased Xstrata AG’s 23% interest in the 215,000-t/yr Mount Holly, SC, primary aluminum smelter. The $95 million purchases increased Century Aluminum’s interest in the smelter to 49.67%. Alcoa, which owned 50.33% of the smelter, will continue to operate and manage the facility (Regan, 2000a).

Century Aluminum and Southwire Co. reached a definitive agreement for the purchase of Southwire’s 237,000-t/yr smelter in Hawesville, KY. Completion of the $468 million transaction was subject to the comple tion of a labor agreement, arrangement of financing, and the receipt of regulatory approvals (Southwire Co., 2000).

Noranda Aluminum Inc. commissioned its new single-piece anode process at its 222,000-t/yr aluminum smelter in New Madrid, MO. Completion of the $72 million expansion, which was expected by mid-2002, will increase production capacity at the smelter by 15% to 253,000 t/yr (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000o).

Alcan revealed plans for a $22 million capital project to expand extrusion billet production at its Sebree, KY, aluminum smelter by 65,000 t/yr. The project, which was begun in August and would require approximately 20 months to complete, involved engineering work and construction of an ultrasonic billet inspection station, a new continuous homogenization furnace, as well as an automated billet sawing and stacking system (Alcan Aluminium Ltd., 2000c).

Ormet announced that it planned to curtail carbon anode operations at its Hannibal smelter by the end of September 2001. The company reported that the closure was primarily in response to the Maximum Achievable Control Technology requirements, as established under the provisions of the Clean Air Act, that were due to take effect at their smelter in October 2001. Ormet’s decision not to modernize the facility to meet the new environmental standards was owing to the age and configuration of the facility and the potential development of advanced technology. The company was negotiating with outside suppliers for the purchase of its 170,000-t/yr carbon anode requirement. The purchased anodes, which would be larger than those produced by Ormet, reportedly would allow increased metal production without the consumption of additional power (Ormet Primary Aluminum Corp., 2000c).

In May, members of United Steelworkers of America (USWA) Local 5724, which represents 1,200 employees at Ormet’s Hannibal, OH, smelter, ratified a new labor agreement. Terms of the contract, which was set to expire at the end of August 2003, were not disclosed (Regan, 2000b).

Century Aluminum and the USWA reached agreement on a new 5-year labor contract at the Hawesville, KY, primaryALUMINUM—2000 6.3 aluminum smelter. Terms of the agreement, which will become effective upon completion of the purchase of the smelter, were not disclosed (Metal Bulletin, 2000h).

A labor dispute between the USWA and Kaiser, which began in September 1998, officially ended on September 18 when an arbitration panel ruled on a half-dozen unresolved issues that were blocking completion of a new contract. The new contract runs through September 30, 2005, calls for a 2.6% average annual increase in the overall wage and benefit package, and reduces the total number of hourly jobs by approximately 19% at the five plants covered by the contract (Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., 2000a).

MAP and USWA ratified a new 5-year labor contract covering workers at the Scottsboro, AL, rolling mill. The contract included increases in wages, pensions, retiree medical benefits, and enhanced opport unities to share in productivity gains. The mill produces about 136,000 t/yr (300 million pounds per year) of mill-finish ed and painted sheet products (Metal Bulletin, 2000t).

Alcan announced that it was i nvesting $15 million at its Terre Haute, IN, light gauge rolling facility. The project, which ultimately would increase the pl ant’s capacity by about 22,700 t/yr (50 million pounds per year), included a wide foil mill with doubling capability to complement existing rolling equipment. The facility produces light ga uge aluminum fin and foil products (Alcan Aluminium Ltd., 2000g).

Kaiser completed the sale of its Micromill® assets and patented technology to Alcoa for an undisclosed price. The Micromill process is a continuous casting technol ogy developed by Kaiser in the early 1990s, which was designed to convert molten metal into aluminum sheet in a single continuous step. The prototype plant built in Reno, NV, a key element of the sale to Alcoa along with all patent rights to the technology, was designed to produce 41,000 t/yr (90 million pounds per year) of flat rolled aluminum (Metal Bulletin, 2000c).

Commonwealth Industries Inc. announced that its subsidiary, Commonwealth Aluminum Corp., signed a 10-year guaranteed supply agreement with Glencore Ltd. for the purchase of primary aluminum. Commonwea lth agreed to purchase a minimum of 544,000 t (1.2 billion pounds) of aluminum beginning January 1, 2001. This purchase will fill only part of Commonwealth’s metal requirements for its fabrication facilities. Commonwealth Aluminum is a large recycler of aluminum, and more than one-half of its raw material comes from scrap (Commonwealth Industries Inc., 2000).

McCook Metals, a subsidiary of MAP, entered the aluminum extrusion market. The company began casting 2000, 6000, and 7000 series extrusion billets at its rolling mill in McCook, IL. Depending on the alloy, the plant uses scrap and/or primary metal to make the billets (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000l).

Norsk Hydro ASA purchased Wells Aluminum Corp., a major U.S. extrusion company based in Baltimore, MD. The acquisition will increase Hydro’s extrusion capacity by 75,000 t/yr and, according to the comp any, will make it the fourth largest extrusion company in the United States with a potential sales volume of 110,000 t/yr. Wells was a custom extruder, finisher, and fabricator of soft alloy aluminum products principally serving the building and construction, transportation, consumer durables, and electrical markets. Wells had a network of 7 facilities with 12 extrusion presses in 6 Midwestern and Southeastern States plus its own casting facility for extrusion billet (Norsk Hydro ASA, 2000b). Alcoa purchased Excel Extrusions Inc., a subsidiary of Noranda Aluminum Inc. Excel’s plant in Warren, OH, has the capacity to produce about 16, 000 t/yr (35 million pounds per year) of soft alloy aluminum extrusions, which are used primarily in the building and construction industries. The plant also has a vertical paint line with a capacity to coat about 11,000 t/yr (24 million pounds per y ear) of extrusions (Alcoa Inc., 2000h).

Butler Manufacturing Co. announced plans to build a new aluminum extrusion and finishing plant in Greeneville, TN, for its Vistawall Architectural Products division, a manufacturer of engineered windows, curtain walls, storefront and skylight systems for the nonresidential building construction market (Butler Manufacturing Co., 2000). The plant initially will add 9,000 t/yr (20 million pounds per y ear) of capacity, increasing the company’s extrusion capacity by 50% (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000f).

Indalex Aluminum Solutions Group, a subsidiary of Caradon plc of the United Kingdom, underwent some major changes during the year. Indalex acquired the aluminum extrusion and billet casting operations of Columbia Pacific Aluminum Corp., a subsidiary of Columbia Ventures Corp. The purchase included casting plants in City of Industry, CA, and Rockwall, TX, as well as three extrusion plants in California—Modesto, Watsonville, and City of Industry (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000h). Indalex closed two of its older extrusion facilities in Dolton, IL, and Winton, NC (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000k). The company also launched several expans ion plans. Indalex announced plans to build a new 79,000-t/yr (175-million-pound-per-year) casting facility in Toronto, Canada. The plant will become part of Indalloy, the casting division of Indalex (Indalex Aluminum Solutions Group, 2000b). Expansi on plans for existing facilities were also announced. Indalex planned to invest $42 million during 2001 to improve and expand its facilities in Gainesville, GA; Elkhart, IN; and Toronto, Canada (Indalex Aluminum Solutions Group, 2000a).

Quanex Corp. purchased Temroc Metals Inc., an aluminum extrusion and fabrication company based in Hamel, MN, which produced customized aluminum extrusions and fabricated metal products for recreational vehicles, architectural products, electronics, and other markets (American Metal Market, 2000f).

Alcoa announced plans to begin construction of a new cast aluminum rod production facility in early 2001. The facility will produce cast rod in sizes ta ilored to forged and impactextruded applications in the automotive, industrial, and consumer markets, and will increase the availability of standard and special rod and bar, standard and custom profiles, seamless and structural pipe and tube, and drawn seamless tube (Alcoa Inc., 2000i).

Alcoa acquired Cordant Technologies Inc. Cordant was composed of three business units: Howmet Castings, a supplier of investment cast superalloy and titanium components used in jet aircraft and elect rical power generation; Huck Fasteners, a designer and manufacturer of high-performance fasteners and fastening systems; and Thiokol Propulsions, a supplier of solid rocket propulsion systems. Cordant had approximately 17,000 employees worldwide at some 58 facilities in Canada, France, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States (Alcoa Inc., 2000e). With the purchase of Cordant, Alcoa acquired 84.7% of Howmet International Inc. By the end of June, Alcoa had purchased all of the outstanding shares of Howmet and became the company’s sole owner (Alcoa Inc., 2000f).U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MINERALS YEARBOOK—2000 6.4

Alcoa also purchased the asse ts of privately held C-KOE Aluminum Inc. of Dallas, TX. C-KOE Aluminum produced primary grade aluminum particle ingot for the chemicals and metals markets (Alcoa Inc., 2000b).

Secondary. —Metal recovered from new and old scrap decreased to 3.45 Mt in 2000 (table 3), according to data derived by the USGS from its “Aluminum Scrap” survey. Of the 78 companies and/or plants to which monthly or annual survey requests were sent, 57 responded, which represented 91% of the total scrap consumed, as listed in table 4.

According to figures released by the Aluminum Association Inc., the Can Manufacturers Institute and the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc., 62. 6 billion aluminum UBCs were recycled in the United States in 2000, for a beverage can recycling rate of 62.1% or nearly two of every three aluminum cans shipped. Although the recycling rate was slightly lower than the 1999 rate of 62.5%, this was the 12th consecutive year that the U.S. recycling rate exceeded 60%. According to the organizations, the average aluminum beverage can produced domestically is comprised of mo re than 51% recycled content (Aluminum Association Inc., 2001a).

Superior Aluminum Alloys installed a third furnace at its New Haven, IN, facility increasing the plant’s capacity by 42%. The plant’s capacity will incr ease to about 8,000 t/mo (17 million to 18 million pounds per month) or more than 90,000 t/yr. The company also inst alled an automatic sow-casting system, which will enable it to pour up to one sow per minute (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000p).

Behr Metals, a subsidiary of Joseph Behr & Sons, also installed a new furnace at its f acility that doubled the plant’s smelting capacity. A new 102-t (225,000-pound) furnace was installed at the company’s Rock ford, IL, plant and was expected to produce about 3,000 t (7 million pounds) of metal per month (Metal Bulletin, 2000f).

Alcan’s extrusion scrap recycling facility in Sebree, KY, started up during the latter half of the year. The feed for this plant was expected to be new extrusion scrap, most of which would be generated by Alcan’s customers. The furnace has an capacity of 50,000 t/yr (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000b).

In October, Norsk Hydro’s new remelt plant in Henderson, KY, came on-stream with an initial capacity of 90,000 t/yr of extrusions. The plant will recycle aluminum scrap into primary quality aluminum extrusion bille ts (Norsk Hydro ASA, 2001a, p. 21).

Wabash Alloys LLC closed 25% of its capacity at its East Syracuse, NY, plant. Prior to the cutback, the plant had a capacity of about 7,000 t/mo (15 million pounds per month) (Worden, 2000c).

Huron Valley Steel Corp. closed its 27,000-t/yr (60-millionpound-per-year) River Rouge, MI, smelter. The facility, known as Fritz Products, produced specification ingot, such as A380.1, from shredded aluminum scrap provided by Huron Valley. In lieu of operating the smelter, the company will concentrate on improving the quality of and expanding the markets for shredded aluminum products ba sed on recent improvement in their aluminum particle sorting technologies. Longer-term plans called for upgrading and reopening the River Rouge smelter (Worden, 2000c).

Keystone Aluminum Inc. reportedly closed its secondary smelter in Mars, PA. The plant produced aluminum deox for the steel industry (Worden, 2000a).

In December, Alchem Aluminum Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of IMCO Recycling Inc., began operations at its new 91,000-t/yr smelter in Saginaw County, MI, that will supply General Motors Corp. (GM) withmore than 900,000 t (2 billion pounds) of specification aluminum alloys over a 13-year period. All of the production from this pl ant will be delivered in molten form to GM’s Saginaw metal casting operation to manufacture engine components (IMCO Recycling Inc., 2001a, p. 3, 6).

Quanex purchased a conti nuous cast rolling mill in Ft. Lupton, CO, from Alcoa. In August 1999, Alcoa purchased the Ft. Lupton and the San Antonio, TX, rolling mills from ACX Technologies Inc. Both of the plants converted UBCs to can sheet. Upon reviewing the Alcoa purchase, the DOJ determined that the acquisition of the Ft. Lupton facility would likely lessen competition in the manufacture and sale of can lid stock since Alcoa controlled 50% of the No rth American market and Ft. Lupton was one of only five other North American producers. Therefore, to avoid antitrust violations, Alcoa was required to sell the facility and upon its purchase, Quanex was required to continue to operate the plant in the manufacture and sale of can lid stock (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000m).

IMCO closed its Sikeston, MO, and Bedford, IN, aluminum recycling plants. The material processed at these plants will be handled at other IMCO facilities and most of the plants’ equipment will be sent to other plants (IMCO Recycling Inc., 2000). The closure of the Bedford and Sikeston plants reportedly reduced IMCO’s domestic annual capacity by about 10% or 122,000 t (270 million pounds ) (IMCO Recycling Inc., 2001b). IMCO also temporarily closed its Wendover, UT, plant that normally recycled aluminum dross (IMCO Recycling Inc., 2001a, p. 8).

Consumption

In 2000, the transportation industry accounted for slightly more than 3.6 Mt of total U.S. shipments of aluminum products (table 6). Shipments to the container and packaging industry, which was the second largest domestic end-use market, continued to decline and was less than 2.3 Mt. Total shipments of aluminum products to domestic users in 2000 was at the same level as that of 1999.

The Partnership for a New Ge neration of Vehicles (PNGV), initiated in 1993, represents a historic and unprecedented collaboration among teams of scientists and engineers from the U.S. automotive industry, the Federal Government, and academia. One of the goals of the PNGV is the development of family car prototypes that will get nearly three times the Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Federal regulatory requirement of 27.5 miles per gallon. At the North American International Auto Show, held in January, Ford Motor Co. and GM introduced their prototypes to the public. Both the GM Prodigy and the Ford Precept we re reported to be aluminum intensive vehicles that would use aluminum for the frame and body panels (Wrigley, 2000d). Meanwhile, the use of aluminum in the typical family vehicle continued to grow from 75 kilograms (kg) (166 pounds) in 1991 to more than 111 kg (245 pounds) in 2000 (Wrigley, 2000f).

DaimlerChrysler Corp. announced that it planned to purchase the major components for its new cross-mounted V-6 engines from Nemak SA, Monterrey, Mexico. When engine production begins in 2002, the block and head castings are expected to use more than 14,000 t (31 million pounds) of recycled aluminum annually (Wrigley, 2000g). Later in the year, GM announcedALUMINUM—2000 6.5 that it would purchase, on an annual basis, aluminum cylinder head castings from Nemak for up to 350,000 of its Gen III Vortec V-8 truck engines. Nemak’s 7,300 t/yr (16 million pounds per year) of head castings would supplement the castings already being provided by GM’s own casting operations in Saginaw, MI, and Castech SA’s facilities in Saltillo, Mexico (Wrigley, 2000c).

Ford opened a new aluminum casting plant in Brook Park,OH, to produce engine blocks for its new 2.3 liter, in-line fourcylinder engine. Initial production at the plant was expected to be about 110,000 aluminum engine blocks per year. Precision sand casting will be used to produce the engine blocks (Wrigley, 2000b). In November, Ford and Nemak signed an agreement giving Nemak control of Ford’s two big aluminum parts-casting plants in Ontario, Canada, the Windsor Aluminum Plant and the Essex Aluminum Plant. These two plants consume enough secondary aluminum alloy to produce an estimated 81,600 t (180 million pounds) of engine castings each year (Wrigley, 2000a).

Alcan and Ford signed a multiyear aluminum supply agreement. Alcan will provide metal in various forms, including foundry ingot for cast products and flat-rolled autobody sheet for Ford’s stam ping plants. Alcan will also provide design and technology support services, and Ford will purchase minimum monthly volumes of metal with options for additional amounts as required (Alcan Aluminium Ltd., 2000b).

Anticipating a major increas e for aluminium suspension system components in the automotive market, Hayes Lemmerz International Inc. announced plans to build a new foundry in Montague, MI. The plant reportedly would use primary aluminum casting alloys to produce control arms, knuckles, crossmembers, and other components for the North American automotive industry (Wrigley, 2000e).

Pechiney sold its remaining interest in American National Can Group (ANC) to Rexam plc of the United Kingdom. With can plants elsewhere in Europe, the addition of ANC’s 38 billion beverage cans per y ear gives Rexam an annual canmaking capacity of 45 billion cans and makes the company the world’s largest can manufacturer (Metal Bulletin, 2000q).

Ball Corp., a metal and plastic packaging supplier, announced several plant closures during the year. Ball’s Salisbury, NC, aluminum beverage can plant, which had the capacity to produce about 1 billion cans per year, was closed during the third quarter. Ball also announced that it had halted a previous owner’s plans to install a beverage can line in a plant in China and had written off a 10% stake in a Russian beverage can joint venture (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000d). Ball closed a two-piece aluminum beverage can manufacturing line at its Richmond, British Columbia, plant, and a metal coating and sheeting operation at its Hamilton, Ontario, facility was expected to close by March 2001 (American Metal Market, 2000c).

Crown Cork & Seal reported the reorganization of its U.S. metal packaging units from a single business unit into three divisions—beverage cans, food cans, and aerosol cans. The breakup would give the company th e flexibility to sell or joint venture the individual divisions (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000i).

Stocks

Domestic inventories of aluminum ingot, mill products, and scrap decreased to 1.55 Mt at yearend 2000 from 1.87 Mt at yearend 1999 (Aluminum Association Inc., 2001b). The LME reported that primary aluminum metal ingot at its U.S. warehouses decreased dramatically to 125 t at yearend 2000 from 12,700 t at yearend 1999. The LME also reported that at yearend 2000 its U.S. warehouses did not hold any stocks of aluminum alloy ingot compared with 860 t at yearend 1999 (London Metal Exchange Ltd., 2000).

Prices

The monthly average U.S. mark et price of primary aluminum metal, as reported by Platt’s Metals Week, fluctuated throughout the year. The monthly average price began the year at 80.1 cents per pound and, by December, had fallen to 74.3 cents per pound. However, the average price for the year increased from 65.7 cents per pound in 1999 to 74.6 cents per pound in 2000.

The LME cash price for high-grade primary aluminum ingot followed the same general trend as the U.S. market price. The 2000 average annual LME cash price was 70.3 cents per pound.

In May 1999, the Commodity Exchange (COMEX) division of the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) launched an aluminum futures contract for primary aluminum ingot. During its first full year of trading, the average monthly spot settlement price followed the trend of both the U.S. market and LME prices. The monthly average, based on a rolling average of the daily spot settlement price, declined from 80.3 cents per pound in January to 74.6 cents per pound in December.

Purchase prices for aluminum scrap, as quoted by American Metal Market, also fluctuated during the year but closed at lower levels than those at the beginning of the year. The yearend price ranges for selected types of aluminum scrap were as follows: mixed low-copper-content aluminum clips, 47.5 to 48.5 cents per pound; old sheet and cast aluminum, 38.5 to 39.5 cents per pound; and clean, dry aluminum turnings, 40 to 41 cents per pound.

Aluminum producers’ buying price range for processed and delivered UBCs, as quoted by American Metal Market, also closed lower at yearend. The price range began the year at 57 to 59 cents per pound and closed the year at 53 to 54 cents per pound. Resource Recycling published a monthly transaction price for aluminum UBCs in its Container Recycling Report. During the year, the monthly average decreased significantly from 62.9 cents per pound in January to 53.9 cents per pound in December. However, similar to the U.S. market price trend of primary aluminum ingot, the annual average price for aluminum UBCs in 2000 of 57.7 cents per pound was higher than the 1999 annual average of 50.6 cents per pound.

The yearend indicator prices for selected secondary aluminum ingots, as published in American Metal Market, also decreased significantly compared with those of 1999. The closing prices for 2000 were as follows: alloy 380 (1% zinc content), 68.7 cents per pound; alloy 360 (0.6% copper content), 74.1 cents per pound; alloy 413 (0.6% copper content), 73.8 cents per pound; and alloy 319, 72.7 cents per pound. Platt’s Metals Week published an annual average U.S. price of 65.6 cents per pound for A-380 alloy (3% zinc content). The average LME cash price for a similar 380 alloy was 55.2 cents per pound.

Trade

Total exports of aluminum materials from the United States increased 7% in 2000 compared with those of 1999 (table 8).U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MINERALS YEARBOOK—2000 6.6 Exports of semifabricated material and scrap increased but exports of crude metals and alloys decreased compared with those of 1999 (table 9). About two-thirds of total U.S. exports were accounted for by Canada and Mexico.

Imports for consumption decreased in 2000 compared with those of 1999, reversing a 3-year upward trend that began in 1997 (table 10). Canada remained the major source country by supplying 55% of the total imports in 2000 (table 11). Russia continued to be the second largest supplier of aluminum materials. The decline in imports of crude metal and alloys from Russia was more than compensated for by increased imports of semifabricated materials and scrap.

World Review

Despite the temporary closure of production capacity in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States, world production of primary aluminum metal increased by 2% in 2000 compared with that of 1999 (table 12). Production increased owing in part to the opening of new smelters in Canada and Mozambique. U.S. and Asian demand was weak, especially during the latter half of the year, whereas European demand was reported to be steady.

Unwrought aluminum inventories held by members of the IAI decreased slightly to 1.79 Mt at yearend 2000 from 1.80 Mt at yearend 1999. Unwrought aluminum is defined by the IAI as aluminum in its basic cast form made from primary metal or from scrap and which is unworked in the metallurgical sense. IAI total aluminum inventories decreased to 3.09 Mt at yearend 2000 from 3.18 Mt at yearend 1999. Total aluminum is unwrought aluminum plus unprocessed scrap, metal in process, and finished semifabricated (mill) products (International Aluminium Institute, 2001).

Inventories of primary aluminum metal held by the LME decreased dramatically from 774,000 t at yearend 1999 to 322,000 t at yearend 2000. Aluminum alloy inventories, however, increased to 88,000 t at yearend 2000 from 78,000 t at yearend 1999 (London Metal Exchange Ltd., 2000).

Armenia .—The Government of Armenia and Russia’s Sibirsky Aluminy signed a joint-venture agreement to rebuild the Armenal foil mill in Yerevan. Sibirsky agreed to invest about $32 million in exchange for 44% of the plant ownership. The remaining 56% would remain with the state-controlled Kanaker Aluminum Works. The mill, which had been idled for 6 years, was expected to reachits full capacity of about 2,200 t/mo of foil by the middle of 2001. Sibirsky planned to increase its ownership to 74% over 3 or 4 years (Interfax Mining & Metals Report, 2000a).

Australia .—Capral Aluminium Ltd. sold its 150,000 t/yr Kurri Kurri primary aluminum smelter in New South Wales to Germany’s VAW Aluminium AG (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000g). VAW, whose worldwide smelter capacity increased by 30% to 575,000 t/yr with this purchase, announced plans to modernize and expand capacity at Kurri Kurri by 15,000 t/yr before 2003 (Metal Bulletin, 2000w). Capral also announced plans to phase out its sheet rolling operations at Granville by the end of 2000. The associated metal recycling and remelt facility would be retained and converted to extrusion billet production. Capral intended to concentrate on its downstream processing and distribution business (Metal Bulletin, 2000g).

Rio Tinto plc became the sole owner of Comalco Ltd., a major Australian supplier of bauxite, alumina, and primary aluminum metal to the world market. Rio Tinto acquired the publicly held 27.6% of Comalco during the first half of 2000. Comalco’s interests include the Weipa bauxite mine (100%) in Queensland, the Boké Mine (4 %) in Guinea, the Gladstone alumina refinery (30%) in Queen sland, the Eurallumina refinery (56%) in Italy, the Bell Bay (100%) and Boyne Island (54%) smelters in Australia, and the Tiwai Point smelter (79%) in New Zealand (Rio Tinto plc, 2001, p. 39).

Pechiney agreed to purchas e AMP Life Limited’s 15.5% direct stake in the Tomago primary aluminum smelter in New South Wales. The purchase woul d increase Pechiney’s interest in the 440,000 t/yr smelter to 51.55% from 36.05%. The other participants in the Tomago joint venture are Gove Aluminium Finance Ltd. (36.05%) and VAW Tomago Inc. and VAW Australia Pty Ltd. with a comb ined stake of 12.4% (Pechiney, 2000a).

Alcoa of Australia Limited, a jo int venture of Alcoa Inc. and WMC Ltd., announced the restart of its idled capacity at the Portland and Point Henry primary aluminum smelters. The capacity had been idled since the mid-1990s. Alcoa of Australia was operator and part owner of the 450,000-t/yr Portland smelter and 100% owner/operator of the 180,000-t/yr Point Henry smelter (American Metal Market, 2000b). On September 15, Alcoa increased its ownership in the Portland smelter to 55% from 45% with the purchase of Eastern Aluminium Ltd. (Alcoa, 2001b, p. 10-11).

Azerbaijan .—Fondel Metal Participants, a Dutch company, won a tender for the management of Azerbaijan’s aluminum holding company, Azeraluminy. Fondel agreed to modernize the company’s facilities that include the 60,000-t/yr Sumgait smelter, the Gyandja alumina refinery, and local alunite mines. The Gyandja refinery, which can process both imported bauxites and local alunite ore, was the company’s only operational facility in 2000 (Metal Bulletin, 2000d).

Bahrain .—The Government of Bahrain approved in principle a $1.7 billion expansion project for Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) and passed the proposal on to the ministerial committee of finance and economy for further study. The project, if approved, would increase capacity at Alba’s 500,000-t/yr primary aluminum smelter to 750,000 t/yr (American Metal Market, 2000a).

Brazil .—Vale do Rio Doce Alumínio S.A. (Aluvale) reported the start of a 43,000-t/yr expansion at its Alumínio Brasileiro S.A. (Albrás) primary aluminum smelter. The $90 million expansion at the 361,000-t/yr smelter was expected to be completed by September 2001 (Metal Bulletin, 2000a).

Cia Brasileira de Alumínio (CBA) began construction on a 70,000-t/yr expansion at its 237,000-t/yr primary aluminum smelter in Sao Paulo. Th e $400 million project, which also included investments in CBA’s hydroelectric plants, was expected to be completed by the end of 2002 (Kinch, 2000).

Billiton plc acquired an indirect 2.1% stake in Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) through its purchase of a 66.97% share of Sweet River Investment Ltd. The Sweet River assets correspond to a 7.74% share of Valepar SA, the controlling shareholder of CVRD. CVRD through its fully owned subsidiary Aluvale, has interests in the Albras and Santa Cruz primary aluminum smelters (Billiton plc, 2000a).

Canada .—On October 21, approximately 32 months after groundbreaking ceremonies, the first reduction cell at Alcan Aluminium Ltd.’s Alma smelter was energized. Startup of the smelter’s 432 reduction cells will continue through the fall ofALUMINUM—2000 6.7 2001, at which time the smelter wa s expected to reach its full capacity of 400,000 t/yr (Alcan Aluminium Ltd., 2000i).

On December 8, Alcan announced that it would temporarily close 50,000 t/yr of capacity at its primary aluminum smelter in Kitimat, British Columbia, for at least 10 months. Alcan believed that the temporary shut down and other energy reduction steps would conserve enough energy to keep the other six potlines at the 272,000-t/yr smelter operational. An acute shortage of water in the Nechako Reservoir, the result of 3 consecutive years of low inflows into the reservoir, reduced the hydroelectric power availability and forced the company to take this action (Alcan Aluminium Ltd., 2000j).

Workers at the 372,000-t/yr Aluminerie de Bécancour primary smelter in Quebec accepted a new 4-year labor agreement that reportedly include d a 3% wage increase the first year and 2.8% increases each year thereafter. The previous 6- year contract expired on June 30 (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000a).

Lavalum, a joint venture of scrap processor SNF/Quebec Metal Recycle Inc. and the provincial Government of Quebec, announced the opening a new secondary aluminum smelter. The smelter was expected to produce 2,950 t/mo (6.5 million pounds per month) of aluminum alloys (Worden, 2000b).

China .—During the year, numerous expansion plans for primary aluminum smelters throughout China were announced.

Baotou Aluminium Group planned to add a new 50,000-t/yr potline to its 110,000-t/yr smelter by the end of 2001 (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000e).

The 20,000-t/yr Hubei Aluminium Smelter received Government approval to pro ceed with a planned 100,000-t/yr expansion program (CRU Aluminium Monitor, 2000a).

Work reportedly began on the 100,000-t/yr expansion at the 85,000-t/yr Lanzhou Aluminium Smelter. Completion of the project was expected in 2 to 3 years (American Metal Market, 2000e).

The Taiiyuan Aluminium Works in Shanxi Province began construction work on a planned 80,000-t/yr expansion at its 30,000-t/yr primary aluminum smelter. Once the new line became operational at the end of 2001, the company planned to close one of the two existing 15,000-t/yr potlines because of pollution factors (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000q).

Tongchuan Aluminium Industry commissioned a new 5,000- t/yr potline at its 50,000-t/yr sme lter in Shaanxi Province (CRU Aluminium Monitor, 2000b).

Xiezhou Aluminium Plant in Shanxi Province reported the completion of a new 40,000-t/yr potline at its 30,000-t/yr smelter. The company planne d to upgrade the existing potlines and increase capacity to 100,000 t/yr by the end of 2001 (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000t).

Yunnan Aluminium Plant reportedly completed its smelter expansion increasing capacity from the previous 40,000 t/yr to 130,000 t/yr. The company was awaiting Government approval to further expand the smelter’s capacity to 250,000 t/yr (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000u).

Zunyi Aluminium Plant started construction on a new 100,000-t/yr potline at its 32,000-t/yr smelter in Guizhou Province, which could be completed in 2002 (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000v).

Egypt .—The Aluminium Company of Egypt (Egyptalum) announced plans to increase capacity at its 195,000-t/yr primary smelter to 245,000 t/yr by 2002. In October 1997, a 50,000-t/yr prebaked potline was commissioned and an existing potline (Potline 5) was shut down. Egyptalum expects to complete the conversion of Potline 5 to pr ebake technology by mid-2002, thereby increasing the smelter’s capacity to 245,000 t/yr (Aluminium Company of Egypt, Smelter, accessed May 25, 2001, at URL http://www.egypta lum.com.eg/smelter.html).

France .—PSA Peugot Citroën and Pechiney signed a strategic partnership agreement for the development of aluminum applications in Peuleot and Citroën vehicles. The 10- year agreement provides the framework for cooperation between the two groups with the aim of increasing production of mass-produced aluminum parts and making innovative developments for vehicle weight reduction (Pechiney, 2000b).

Germany .—VAW Aluminium AG and Sweden’s Sapa AB, formerly Gränges AB, terminat ed their agreement aimed at VAW taking over Sapa’s foil business, Eurofoil. VAW reported that it had withdrawn its application with the German cartel office after it became apparent that the office would not give its approval. The former agreement had included foil mills in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Sweden (Köhl, 2000).

Hungary .—Magyar Aluminium Rt (MAL) integrated its affiliates into one holding company to reduce administrative overhead and to simplify strategic planning. MAL incorporated Ajkai Timfold, owner of the 300,000-t/yr Ajka alumina refinery, and Inotai Aluminium, which owns 93% of the 35,000-t/yr Inota aluminum smelter (Metal Bulletin, 2000m).

India .—Alcan announced the sale of its 54.62% interest in Indian Aluminium Co., Ltd. (Indal) to Hindalco Industries Ltd. The purchase included about 100,000 t/yr of primary aluminum smelter capacity (Metal Bulletin, 2000b).

Hindalco’s board of directors approved a $575 million expansion of its operations in Renukoot. Aluminum smelter capacity would be expanded to 342,000 t/yr from 242,000 t/yr and the alumina refinery capacity would increase to 660,000 t/yr from 450,000 t/yr. The expansion was expected to be completed by July 2002 (Raghuvanshi, 2000).

Expansion plans continued at National Aluminium Co. Ltd. Bauxite production capacity at the Panchpatmali Mine was scheduled to double to 4.8 Mt/yr by 2001. Capacity at the 800,000-t/yr alumina refinery at Damanjodi was expected to increase to 1.575 Mt/yr in early 2002, and the Angul smelter expansion that would increase capacity to 345,000 t/yr from 230,000 t/yr was expected to be commissioned by mid-2002 (Hall, 2000).

Indonesia .—Production at P.T. Indonesia Asahan Aluminium Co.’s (PT Inalum) primary aluminum smelter returned to 85%to 90% of its 225,000-t/yr capacity with 440 of its 510 pots online. Receding water levels in Lake Toba in 1998-99 had reduced hydroelectric power generation forcing PT Inalum to reduce production levels at the smelter by as much as 60% in mid-1998 (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000c).

Iran .—The production rate at Almahdi Aluminium Corp.’s primary aluminum smelter at Bandar Abbas reached about 25,000 t/yr. The company expected the smelter, which was commissioned in June 1997, to reach full production of 110,000 t/yr by the end of 2001 (Metal Bulletin, 2000e).

Japan .—Alcoa announced that construction had begun on a new forged aluminum commercial vehicle wheel plant in Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, to meet increased demand for polished aluminum truck and bus wheels in Japan. The plant was expected to be operational by the latter half of 2001 and to reach full capacity in late 2002 (Alcoa Inc., 2000d).

Nippon Light Metal Co. Ltd. announced a major restructuring of its extrusion business that would close one-third of theU.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MINERALS YEARBOOK—2000 6.8 company’s 33 extrusion lines by the end of March 2001. The company also reported the curtailment of production of aluminum substrates for com puter disks (Metal Bulletin, 2000p).

Mitsubishi Materials Corp. and Mitsubishi Aluminium Co. Ltd. announced plans to build an integrated aluminum recycling plant that would consolidate aluminum UBC recycling operations that were being conducted at several different locations. The plant would convert UBCs into slabs ready for rolling into can stock. Slab production, which was expected to start in 2001, was estimated at 60,000 t/yr (Metal Bulletin, 2000o).

Korea, Republic of .—Alcan, through its subsidiary Alcan Taihan Aluminium Limited, acquired Aluminium of Korea Limited (Koralu). The acquisition of Koralu positioned Alcan as Asia’s leading aluminum rolled products company. The Koralu facility included casting, hot rolling, cold rolling, and extensive finishing operations as well as aluminum foundry alloy and billet operations supported by a research and development center (Alcan Aluminium Ltd., 2000e).

Malaysia .—Malaysia’s Aluminium Industries commissioned a new aluminum foil mill. The plant was capable of producing foil down to 0.006 millimeters thickness for the pharmaceutical and food packaging industries (Metal Bulletin, 2000n).

Mexico .—Hayes Lemmerz launched a capacity expansion program at its Chihuahua wheelplant that was expected to increase production to 1.2 million cast light-alloy wheels per year from 300,000 wheels per year (Wrigley, 2000e).

Mozambique .—On September 29, the Mozambique Aluminium Co.’s (Mozal) primary aluminum smelter near Maputo was officially opened. The feasibility study for the smelter started in November 1995, and construction began in May 1998. The 250,000-t/yr smelter uses Pechiney’s AP30S technology and has one potline w ith a total of 288 pots. The smelter is a joint ventur e involving Billiton plc (47%), Mitsubishi Corp. (25%), the Industrial Development Corp. of South Africa Ltd. (24%), and the Government of Mozambique (4%). The smelter produced its first metal on June 18, 2000, and exported its first consignment of ingots to Europe in August (Billiton plc, 2000b; Millbank, 2000) . By the end of December, all 288 pots were in operation (Mozambique Aluminium Co., 2000). Billiton reported that the company will complete feasibility studies into the possible construction of a second 250,000-t/yr potline at Mozal. Any decision, however, could be at least a year away (Metal Bulletin, 2000l).

Nigeria .—Reynolds, which was merged with Alcoa, transferred its 10% interest in Aluminium Co. of Nigeria (Alscon) to the other private partner in the company, Germany’s Ferrostaal AG, whose ownership increased to 30%. The remaining 70% of Alscon was owned by the Nigerian government. The responsibility fo r the technical running of the 193,000-t/yr smelter, which has been closed since June 1999, was also transferred from Re ynolds to Ferrostaal (Metal Bulletin, 2000r).

Norway .—Elkem ASA’s aluminum operations are organized in Elkem Aluminium ANS, a 50-50 partnership with Alcoa. In 2000, Alcoa acquired over 30% of the outstanding shares of Elkem ASA (Alcoa Inc., 2001b, p. 10).

Elkem Aluminium ANS announced plans to modernize and expand its 121,000-t/yr Mosjøen primary aluminum smelter. Two of the plants four potroom s (two potlines) were converted from Soderberg to prebaked technology in 1989. The remaining Soderberg line is scheduled to be converted and expanded by 2003. Upon completion, annual capacity at the smelter would increase to 188,000 t/yr (Elkem ASA, 2000).

Meanwhile, conversion work on Potrooms 1 and 2 at the 83,000-t/yr Lista smelter was expected to be completed in the first half of 2001. The installation of a new Soderberg technology was expected to yield significant environmental improvements while increasing production capacity by 10,000 t/yr (Elkem ASA, 2001, p. 26).

Norsk Hydro ASA confirmed that the company will invest approximately $600 million in the expansion and modernization of its Sunndal primary aluminum smelter. A new smelter with a production capacity of 238,800 t/yr will be built on the site and a 66,000-t/yr Soderberg facility, which was started in 1954, will be closed gradually to prevent the loss of production during construction. The company stated that the remaining 90,000 t/yr of existing capacity will continue to operate. The new smelter will consist of 340 new cells using Hydro’s HAL250 technology. Upon completion in 2004, total capacity at the site will increase to 328,800 t/yr, making it the largest aluminum smelter in Europe (outside of Russia). The design of the cell linings and rectifiers will be such that amperage can gradually be increased, providing an additional 22,000 t/yr of production capacity by 2007 (Norsk Hydro ASA, 2000a: Norsk Hydro ASA, 2001b).

Oman .—A feasibility study for a proposed $2.5 billion, 480,000-t/yr primary aluminum smelter in Sohar was completed. An implementation review to identify potential technologies and project funding was begun (Mining Journal, 2000b).

Russia .— A new aluminum company, Russky Aluminy (Russian Aluminium), was formed by combining the assets of the Sibneft shareholder group and Siberian Aluminium. Russian Aluminium manages about 70% of Russia’s primary aluminum smelting capacity. The company controls Russia’s three largest smelters—Bratsk (900,000 t/yr), Krasnoyarsk (800,000 t/yr), and Sayansk (400,000 t/yr). On the alumina side, the company controls the Achinsk (900,000 t/yr) and the Nikolayev (1.05 Mt/yr) refineries. The downstream operations that are either fully or partly owned by the company include the Samara Metallurgical Plant, the Sayanal foil mill, the Rostar can plant, and the Belaya Kalitva Metallurgical Production Assn. (Metal Bulletin, 2000s).

A second new group, SUAL Holding, was a merger of the aluminum assets of Siberian-Urals Aluminium Co. and the Trustconsult Group. SUAL controls the Irkutsk (262,000 t/yr), Bogoslovsk (162,000 t/yr), Uralsky (70,000 t/yr), and Kandalaksa (63,000 t/yr) primary aluminum smelters. The company also owns the Bogoslovsk (930,000 t/yr) and Uralsky (570,000 t/yr) refineries, the Northern and Southern Urals bauxite mines plus the Srende-Timan bauxite deposits (CRU Alumina Monitor, 2000). Down stream facilities include the Kamensk-Uralsky Metallurgy Plant (rolling mill), the Mikhailovsky Nonferrous Metal Processing Plant (Mikhalum foil plant), and the Irkutsk and Kirinsky cable plants (Interfax Mining & Metal Report, 2000d).

Scotland.—Alcan reported the closure of its 8,000-t/yr primary aluminum smelter in Kinlochleven. The Kinlochleven smelter, built in 1907, was one of the world’s oldest smelters still in operation (Alcan Aluminium Ltd., 2000f).

South Africa .—Billiton was conducting a feasibility study for an additional 125,000-t/yr potline at its 500,000-t/yr HillsideALUMINUM—2000 6.9 smelter (Mining Journal, 2000a).

Spain .—Alcoa Inespal built a new aluminum extrusion plant at La Salva del Camp to make extruded aluminum profiles for the automotive and construction industries. By yearend, a 1,350-t press with an output of 4,000 t/yr was operational. A second line was expected to startup in August 2001, doubling the plant’s capacity (Alcoa Inc., 2001a, p. 24).

Norsk Hydro announced plans to build a 60,000-t/yr aluminum remelt plant in Azuqu eca near Madrid. The plant, which will produce extrusion ingot from scrap for growing markets in Spain and Portugal, was expected to be completed by yearend 2001 (Norsk Hydro ASA, 2000e).

Sweden .—Gränges AB changed its name to Sapa AB. Sapa was already being used as a corporate and brand name by Gränges’ aluminum extrusion division. The formal change of name and company logo took pl ace in mid-February (Metal Bulletin, 2000k).

Glencore International AG reported that it had acquired Kubikenborg Aluminium Sundsvall AB (KAS), owner of the 100,000-t/yr primary aluminum smelter in Sundsvall, Sweden. KAS had been formed by the plant’s management group that bought the smelter from Gränges in 1998 (American Metal Market, 2000d).

Switzerland.—Algroup, the aluminum division of Alusuisse Lonza Group Inc., announced its decision to continue the operation of its 35,000-t/yr primary aluminum smelter at Steg at least until the end of 2005. The continuation of the Steg plant, which was originally scheduled for closure at the end of 2001, became possible because of the ex tension of a fixed power price and supply contract to 2005. The continuation of plant operations will require some technical adjustments that will result in an increase in capacity to 43,000 t/yr (algroup, 2000).

Norsk Hydro signed an agreement with Aluminium Martigny S.A. to continue operating its remelt plant in Martigny. The agreement saved the plant, which produced about 25,000 t/yr of extrusion billet and foundry alloys, from imminent closure. While the potrooms at the Martigny primary smelter will remain closed, Norsk Hydro will operate the casthouse to produce specialty products for extruders and foundries in Europe (Norsk Hydro ASA, 2000d).

Taiwan .—New Sun Metal Industry Co. completed the expansion of its secondary aluminum smelter that increased capacity to 156,000 t/yr. The expansion enabled the company to diversify into sheet rolling, t-bar, anode, and deox production (Metal Bulletin, 2000u).

United Kingdom .—Alcan reported the restart of 50,000 t/yr of primary aluminum capacity at its smelter in Lynemouth to compensate for the closure of Alcan’s Isle Maligne smelter in Canada and the Kinlochleven smelter in Scotland. The restart was completed by the end of th e year (Alcan Aluminium Ltd., 2000f).

Alcan also announced the planned closure of its foil plant in Rogerstone, Newport, South Wales by June 2001. Some products will be transferred to ot her plants in the Alcan network but the majority of the plant’s business will be discontinued. The larger Rogerstone sheet facility on the same site will continue to operate and remain a key part of Alcan’s sheet manufacturing system in Europe (Alcan Aluminium Ltd., 2000d).

Alcoa announced the acquisition of British Aluminium. The acquisition included three soft-alloy extrusion operations at Banbury, St. Helens, and Latchford, England; a heat-treat plate mill in Kitts Green, Birmingham, England; and a sheet mill in Dolgarrog, Wales. The acquisition also included two distribution businesses, Baco Metal Centres and Aluminium Supply Aerospace, with branches located throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland (Alcoa Inc., 2000l).

Alcoa also acquired Baco Consumer Products, Ltd., headquartered near London. Baco is the United Kingdom’s leading supplier of household wraps, including aluminium foil, plastic bags, cling film, and trash bags (Alcoa Inc., 2000c).

Alcoa announced the acquisition of MCG Closures Limited from Wassall plc. The acquisition included plants near Birmingham, England; Rieti, Italy; and a distribution center in the Netherlands. MCG became part of Alcoa Closure Systems International, 1 of 25 Alcoa business units and a leading global manufacturer of plastic closures for the beverage industry (Alcoa Inc., 2000a).

Norsk Hydro signed an agreement with Aluminium Holding UK Ltd. to purchase its entir e shareholding in Deeside Aluminium Ltd. in Wrexham, Wales. Deeside operates an extrusion ingot casting plant that uses aluminum scrap as a feed source. The plant has an output of 38,000 t/yr of extrusion ingot. Upon approval of the takeover by the United Kingdom authorities, Norsk Hydro plans a significant improvement program that will improve produc tivity and increase capacity to 43,000 t/yr. The improvement program will also pave the way for a possible future expansion to 60,000 t/yr (Norsk Hydro ASA, 2000c).

Ukraine .—Kaiser completed a technical feasibility study for the reconstruction of smelting capacity at Zaporozhye Aluminum Works (Zalk). The conversion of the smelter’s Soderberg technology to prebaked anode technology was expected to increase capacity at the 110,000-t/yr primary aluminum smelter to about 160,000 t/yr and to reduce costs. Financing for this conversion wa s expected to be secured from the sale of 68.1% of the state- owned shares in the company. The Government would retain 25% of the shares and employees 6.9% (Interfax Mining & Metals Report, 2000c). At the end of November, the Ukranian State Property Fund announced that Kremenchug Auto Works (Kraz) Foreign Trade Company had won the tender for the shares in Zalk with a bid of $101.5
million. Glencore International reportedly owns about 90% of the shares in Kraz Foreign Tr ade Company (Interfax Mining & Metals Report, 2000b).

Ukrainian Aluminium Co., a company linked with Russia’s Sibirsky Aluminy, purchased a 30% stake in the 1.05 Mt/yr Nikolayev alumina plant. Ukrainian Aluminium planned to modernize the alumina plant and increase its capacity to 1.3 Mt/yr. As a condition of the sa le, the company also agreed to build a primary aluminum smelter in the Ukraine (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000n). Construction of the new 100,000-t/yr smelter was due to begin by 2002 and would take 5 to 6 years to complete (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000s). By the end of 2000, Ukrainian Aluminium acquired an additional 15% stake in the Nikolayev alumina refinery (Platt’s Metals Week, 2000r). Venezuela .—Norsk Hydro acquired a 33.3% stake in Pianmeca, located in Puerto Ord az next to the Venalum smelter, which will supply liquid aluminum to the casthouse. Pianmeca expected to produce 30,000 t of extrusion ingots and 8,000 t of wire rod in 2001. Norsk Hydro planned to increase future production levels at the plant through investments and plant improvements (Norsk Hydro ASA, 2000f).U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MINERALS YEARBOOK—2000 6.10 Technology

Toronto University scientists completed an evaluation of Aluminum Power Inc.’s aluminum-air fuel cell. The scientists reported that “although nickel-metal-hydride and lithium-ion battery systems represent a tremendous advance in battery technology, their power pales in comparison with the energy available from an aluminum-air cell.” The cell generates power through an electro mechanical reaction between the aluminum, placed in an alkaline soluti on, and oxygen from the air. Electricity is produced as the aluminum oxidizes in the alkaline solution. Key to the cell’s effectiveness is its high energy output, which results from the characteristic energy density of aluminum and the fact that three electrons are released for every atom of aluminum reacted (American Metal Market, 2000g).

The aluminum-air cell technology can be adapted to a variety of applications, including electric vehicles, emergency power sources, and portable electronic devices. Aluminum Power announced that it had achieved 8 hours of talk time and 51⁄2 days of standby power using its newly developed aluminum-air fuel cell for mobile telephones in a digital mode compared with 2 hours of talk time for lithium-ion or nickel-cadmium batteries. The company claimed that when the technology is perfected about 25 hours of talk time and 240 hours of standby power would be possible (Pinkham, 2000).

Outlook

Weakness in the national economies of most areas of the world is expected to lead to very little growth, or possibly a small decrease, in demand for aluminum in 2001. It is anticipated that this weakness will be short-lived and that demand will pick up in 2002 and thereafter.

On the supply side, energy costs and shortages continued to force companies to temporarily idle smelter capacity. By July 2001, the United States had idled almost 1.8 Mt of capacity; combined with announced capacity reductions in Brazil and Canada, almost 2.2 Mt/yr of production capacity was removed from the world supply. However, the reduction in demand and additional production, from new smelters in Canada andMozambique plus brownfield expansions that are coming onstream, are expected to keep world supply and demand fairly balanced in 2001. In later years, however, if demand picks up and the energy cost and supply situations have not been reversed, shortages could appear.

On the demand side, the automotive and construction industries are expected to be the drivers for aluminum demand in the future. Growth in the packaging and container industry has stabilized, especially in the United States and Europe. There is still room for growth in the packaging industries of Asia and Latin America, but even there the growth rate over the past few years has slowed. Overall, world demand is expected to continue to grow, despite a possible drop in the growth rate for the next year or so as the world economies begin their recoveries.

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C-KOE Aluminum: Pittsburgh, Alcoa In c. press release, August 29, 1 p. ———2000c, Alcoa acquires U.K.-based Baco Consumer Products, Ltd.:

Pittsburgh, Alcoa Inc. pre ss release, August 4, 1 p. ———2000d, Alcoa announces plan to build wheel plant: Pittsburgh, Alcoa

Inc. press release, October 24, 1 p. ———2000e, Alcoa completes acquisition of Cordant: Pitts burgh, Alcoa Inc. press release, May 25, 1 p. ———2000f, Alcoa completes acquisition of Howmet: Pittsburgh, Alcoa Inc. press release, June 20, 1 p. ———2000g, Alcoa completes me rger with Reynolds Metals: Pittsburgh and

Richmond, Alcoa Inc. press release, May 3, 1 p. ———2000h, Alcoa purchases Noranda Aluminum Inc.’s Excel Extrusions

unit: Pittsburgh, Alcoa Inc. press release, January 7, 1 p. ———2000i, Alcoa to build cast aluminum rod facility: Cressona, PA, Alcoa

Inc. press release, November 29, 1 p. ———2000j, Alcoa to curtail production at Troutdale aluminum smelter:

Pittsburgh, Alcoa Inc. press release, June 28, 1 p. ———2000k, Alcoa to re start primary aluminum production: Pittsburgh, Alcoa

Inc. press release, January 19, 1 p. ———2000l, European Commiss ion approves Alcoa’s acquisition of British

Aluminium businesses: Pittsburgh, Alcoa Inc. press release, October 27, 1 p. ———2000m, Michigan Avenue Partners to acquire Alcoa’s Longview

aluminum smelter: Pittsburgh and Chicago, Alcoa Inc. press release, December 27, 1 p. ———2001a, Annual report—2000: P ittsburgh, Alcoa Inc., 68 p. ———2001b, Form 10-K—2000: Securities and Exchange Commission, 46 p. algroup, 2000, algr oup will continue the operation of its aluminium smelter at

Steg (Switzerland) until the end of 2005 and expand capacity: Zurich, algroup press release, May 26, 2 p. Aluminum Association Inc., 2001a, Americans recycle 2 of 3 aluminum cans:

Washington, DC, Aluminum Association Inc. press release, April 19, 4 p. ———2001b, The aluminum situation: Aluminum Association Inc., February,

4 p. American Metal Market, 2000a, Alba capacity hike advances: American Metal

Market, v. 108, no. 220, November 14, p. 10. ———2000b, Alcoa plans Australian restart: American Metal Market, v. 108,

no. 83, May 1, p. 2. ———2000c, Ball to close beverage can line: American Metal Market, v. 108,

no. 117, June 19, p. 2. ———2000d, Glencore seals KAS acquisition: American Metal Market, v. 108,

no. 205, October 24, p. 8. ———2000e, Lanzhou smelter lifts capacity: American Metal Market, v. 108,

no. 174, August 8, p. 2. ———2000f, Quanex completes Temroc acqui sition: American Metal Market,

v. 108, no. 232, December 4, p. 8. ———2000g, Scientists outline advantages of aluminum-air cell battery:

American Metal Market, v. 108, no. 133, July 12, p. 4. Billiton plc, 2000a, Billiton to acquire a minority interest in Valepar SA:

London, Billiton plc press re lease, July 26, 2 p. ———2000b, Mozal smelter o fficially opened: L ondon, Billiton plc press

release, September 29, 1 p. Butler Manufacturing Co., 2000, Butler to build $24 million Vistawall plant in

Tennessee: Kansas City, MO, Butler Manufacturing Co. press release, April 4, 1 p.Commonwealth Industries Inc., 2000, Commonwealth Aluminum signs longterm supply agreement: Louisville, KY, Commonwealth Industries Inc. press release, October 4, 2 p. CRU Alumina Monitor, 2000, Industry News: CRU Alumina Monitor, October,ALUMINUM—2000 6.11 p. 6. CRU Aluminium Monitor, 2000a, Industry News: CRU Aluminium Monitor,

January, p. 11. ———2000b, Industry News: CRU Aluminium Monitor, August, p. 11. Elkem ASA, 2000, Modernization and expansion of Elkem Aluminium

Mosjøen: Oslo, Norway, Elkem AS A press release, December 20, 1 p. ———2001, Annual report—2000: Oslo, Norway, Elkem ASA, 78 p. Hall, Andrew, 2000, The aluminum industry in India: Light Metal Age, v. 58,

no. 9, 10, October, p. 48-52. IMCO Recycling Inc., 2000, IMCO Recy cling says second quarter net will be

well below estimate, expects better second half: Irving, TX, IMCO Recycling Inc. press release, June 20, 2 p. ———2001a, Annual report—2000: Irving, TX, IMCO Recycling Inc., 37 p. ———2001b, IMCO Recycling shuts down processing capacity in Indiana and

expects fourth quarter loss: Irving, TX, IMCO Recycling Inc. press release, January 22, 2 p. Indalex Aluminum Soluti ons Group, 2000a, Indalex launches $42 (US) million

expansion of three plants in North America: Bannockburn, IL, Indalex Aluminum Solutions Group press release, November 10, 2 p. ———2000b, 2nd largest North American extruder restructures business and

invests in new Toronto plant: Toronto, Indalex Aluminum Solutions Group press release, April 27, 1 p. Interfax Mining & Metals Report, 2000a, Armenal JV to produce 550 tonnes of

foil in July: Interfax Mining & Metals Report, v. 9, issue 28, July 7-13, p. 10. ———2000b, Glencore International subsidiary wins Zaporozhye Aluminum

tender: Interfax Mining & Metals Report, v. 9, issue 49, December 1-7, p. 5. ———2000c, Kaiser Aluminum completes Zaporozhye plant feasibility study:

Interfax Mining & Metals Report, v. 9, issue 33, August 11-17, p. 10. ———2000d, Russia’s second largest aluminum holding company set up:

Interfax Mining & Metals Report, v. 9, issue 38, September 15-21, p. 3-4. International Aluminium In stitute, 2001, Aluminium inve ntories: International

Aluminium Institute Form 351, February 12, 2 p. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., 2000a, Kaiser Aluminum says new labor

contract enables sweeping productivity improvement; company to record onetime charge for settlement costs: Houston, TX, Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. press release, September 18, 3 p. ———2000b, Kaiser Aluminum to curt ail additional Northwest smelter

capacity; power sale proceeds to help mitigate employee impact: Houston, TX, Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. press release, November 20, 2 p. Kinch, Diana, 2000, Brazilians resume smelter expansions: Metal Bulletin

Monthly, no. 351, March, p. 18-21. Köhl, Christian, 2000, Sapa, VAW end Eurofoil deal: American Metal Market,

v. 108, no. 109, June 7, p. 16. London Metal Exchange Ltd., 2000, Aluminium stocks: London Metal

Exchange Ltd., December 29, 2 p. Metal Bulletin, 2000a, Albrás primary alum inium expansion on schedule: Metal

Bulletin, no. 8506, September 7, p. 9. ———2000b, Alcan withdraws fr om India to focus on flat-rolled opportunities:

Metal Bulletin, no. 8462, March 27, p. 9. ———2000c, Alcoa buys Micromill from Kaiser: Metal Bulletin, no. 8447,

February 3, p. 4. ———2000d, Al production may restart at Sumgait: Metal Bulletin, no. 8525,

November 13, p. 5. ———2000e, Bandar Abbas smelter raises production: Metal Bulletin, no.

8486, June 22, p. 8. ———2000f, Behr increases secondary aluminium capacity: Metal Bulletin,

no. 8455, March 2, p. 9. ———2000g, Capral to close its rolling business: Metal Bulletin, no. 8474,

May 11, p. 4. ———2000h, Century in labouragreement at Hawesv ille: Metal Bulletin, no.

8514, October 5, p. 5. ———2000i, Columbia Falls cuts 51,000 tpy of production as power costs bite:

Metal Bulletin, no. 8533, December 11, p. 5. ———2000j, Golden Northwest Aluminium cuts more production: Metal

Bulletin, no. 8537, December 29, p. 3. ———2000k, Gränges takes Sapa name: Metal Bulletin, no. 8446, January 31,

p. 15. ———2000l, Here comes Mozal II: Metal Bulletin, no. 8511, September 25,

p. 14. ———2000m, Hungarian producer forms new holding company: Metal

Bulletin, no. 8497, July 31, p. 3. ———2000n, Malaysian fi rm installs new aluminium foil mill: Metal Bulletin,

no. 8533, December 11, p. 7. ———2000o, New Al can recycling plant pl anned for Japan: Metal Bulletin,

no. 8498, August 7, p. 10. ———2000p, NLM plans major restructuring programme: Metal Bulletin, no.

8458, March 13, p. 5. ———2000q, Pechiney sells remaining ANC stake: Metal Bulletin, no. 8465,

April 6, p. 4. ———2000r, Reynolds pulls out of Alscon: Metal Bulletin, no. 8532, December 7, p. 4. ———2000s, Russky Aluminy works on consolidating assets, building market

share and developing alumina: Metal Bulletin, no. 8495, July 24, p. 6. ———2000t, Scottsboro Aluminum and USW agree deal: Metal Bulletin, no.

8461, March 23, p. 4. ———2000u, Taiwan’s secondary aluminium smelter completes expansion

plan: Metal Bulletin, no. 8527, November 20, p. 21. ———2000v, Vanalco shuts down last potline: Metal Bulletin, no. 8510,

September 21, p. 5. ———2000w, VAW wants to buy Capral’s Kurri Kurri smelter: Metal Bulletin,

no. 8484, June 15, p. 5. Millbank, Paul, 2000, Mozambique moves onto the metals map: Metal Bulletin

Monthly, no. 357, September, p. 36-41. Mining Journal, 2000a, Billit on looks to expand: Mi ning Journal, v. 334, no.

8572, March 3, p. 183-185. ———2000b, Sohar smelter study complete: Mining Journal, v. 334, no. 8566,

January 21, p. 40-41. Mozambique Aluminium Co., 2000, 288 pots in operation: Maputo,

Mozambique, Mozal press release, November-December, 1 p. Norsk Hydro ASA, 2000a, Europe’s largest aluminium plant: Oslo, Norway,

Norsk Hydro ASA press release, August 16, 2 p. ———2000b, Extrusion completes Wells deal: Oslo, Norway, Norsk Hydo

ASA press release, February 24, 1 p. ———2000c, Hydro to acquire Deeside Aluminium: Oslo, Norway, Norsk

Hydro ASA press release, July 25, 1 p. ———2000d, Hydro to operate Swiss remelter: Oslo, Norway, Norsk Hydro

ASA press release, December 12, 1 p. ———2000e, New remelt plant in Spain: Oslo, Norway, Norsk Hydro ASA

press release, September 20, 1 p. ———2000f, Venezuela casthouse joins Hydro supply chain: Oslo, Norway,

Norsk Hydro ASA press release, November 9, 1 p. ———2001a, Annual report—2000: Oslo, Norway, Norsk Hydro ASA, 112 p. ———2001b, Sunndal expansion plans confirmed: Oslo, Norway, Norsk

Hydro ASA press release, June 13, 2 p. Ormet Primary Aluminum Corp., 2000a , Ormet announces complete potline

restart scheduled for September: Wheeling, WV, Ormet Primary Aluminum Corp. press release, August 7, 2 p. ———2000b, Ormet announces plans to curtail aluminum production; sell

power and alumina: Wheeling, WV, Ormet Primary Aluminum Corp. press release, May 18, 2 p. ———2000c, Ormet curtails Hannibal carbon operations: Wheeling, WV,

Ormet Primary Aluminum Corp. pr ess release, December 15, 2 p. Pechiney, 2000a, Pechiney and AMP Life Limited exchange irrevocable offers

for Pechiney to acquire AMP Life’s 15.5% direct stake in the Tomago aluminum smelter: Paris, Pechiney press release, October 3, 1 p. ———2000b, PSA Peugeot Citroën and Pechiney sign a strategic partnership

agreement: Paris, Pechiney press release, June 22, 1 p. Pinkham, Myra, 2000, New aluminum-air fuel cell outlasts other power sources:

American Metal Market, v. 108, no. 171, September 4, p. 11. Platt’s Metals Week, 2000a, ABI union accepts new offer: Platt’s Metals Week,

v. 71, no. 28, July 10, p. 13-14. ———2000b, Alcan to start up recycling furnace, primary capacity: Platt’s

Metals Week, v. 71, no. 20, May 15, p. 3-4. ———2000c, Asahan runs at 85-90% capacity: Platt’s Metals Week, v. 71, no.

46, November 13, p. 5. ———2000d, Ball to close Salisbury aluminum can plant, cut others: Platt’s

Metals Week, v. 71, no. 23, June 5, p. 14-15. ———2000e, Baotou to build new aluminum line: Platt’s Metals Week, v. 71, no. 45, November 6, p. 5. ———2000f, Butler Manufacturing to build aluminum extrusion plant: Platt’s

Metals Week, v. 71, no. 1, January 3, p. 6-7. ———2000g, Capral completes sales of Kurri Kurri: Platt’s Metals Week, v.

71, no. 43, October 23, p. 5. ———2000h, Caradon/Indalex to buy Columbiaplants, expand: Platt’s Metals

Week, v. 71, no. 18, p. 4-5. ———2000i, Crown Cork & Seal rebuilding struggling can businesses: Platt’s

Metals Week, v. 71, no. 49, December 4, p. 8. ———2000j, EC forces rethink of Alcan-Pechiney merger plan: Platt’s Metals

Week, v. 71, no. 12, March 20, p. 1, 10-11. ———2000k, Indalex grows Al extrusions despite slowdown in demand:

Platt’s Metals Week, v. 71, no. 47, November 20, p. 3-4. ———2000l, McCook to produce billet: Pla tt’s Metals Week, v. 71, no. 11,

March 13, p. 11. ———2000m, Nichols must keep Lupton focus: Platt’s Metals Week, v. 71, no.

1, January 3, p. 7. ———2000n, Nikolaev stake winner close; sm elter may be built: Platt’s Metals

Week, v. 71, no. 13, March 27, p. 7. ———2000o, Noranda Aluminum expansions make slow steady progress:U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MINERALS YEARBOOK—2000 6.12

Platt’s Metals Week, v. 71, no. 13, March 27, p. 7-8. ———2000p, Superior to start up new furnace: Platt’s Metals Week, v. 71, no.

24, June 12, p. 12. ———2000q, Taiyuan begins e xpansion construction: Platt’s Metals Week, v.

71, no. 43, October 23, p. 5. ———2000r, Ukraine fails to sell alumina stake: Platt’s Metals Week, v. 71,

no. 48, November 27, p. 7-8. ———2000s, Ukraine to invest in new smelter: Platt’s Metals Week, v. 71, no.

45, November 6, p. 4. ———2000t, Xiezhou’s 40,000mt ready: Platt’s Metals Week, v. 71, no. 27,

July 3, p. 8. ———2000u, Yunnan faces expansion delays: Platt’s Metals Week, v. 71, no.

24, June 12, p. 11. ———2000v, Zunyi begins expansion: Pl att’s Metals Week, v. 71, no. 15,

April 10, p. 9. Raghuvanshi, Vivek, 2000, Hindalco starts expansion: American Metal Market,

v. 108, no. 12, January 20, p. 4. Regan, Bob, 2000a, Century Aluminum completes Mt. Holly deal: American

Metal Market, v. 108, no. 70, April 12, p. 12. ———2000b, Ormet sets wage talks with USW: American Metal Market, v.

108, no. 139, July 20, p. 16. Rio Tinto plc, 2001, Annual report and financial statements—2000: London,

Rio Tinto plc, 136 p. Southwire Co., 2000, Century and Southwire extend date for closing aluminum

smelter acquisition: Carrollton, GA, Southwire Co. press release, November 16, 1 p. Worden, Edward, 2000a, De-ox producer Ke ystone reportedly halts operations:

American Metal Market, v. 108, no. 176, September 12, p. 10. ———2000b, Secondary aluminum smelter starts operating in Quebec:

American Metal Market, v. 108, no. 125, June 29, p. 7. ———2000c, Wabash slashes capacity, Huron Valley closes plant: American

Metal Market, v. 108, no. 187, September 27, p. 9. Wrigley, Al, 2000a, Agreement gives Nemak control of Ford’s WAP, EAP

plants: American Metal Market, v. 108, no. 218, November 10, p. 4. ———2000b, Ford opens new aluminum casting plant: American Metal

Market, v. 108, no. 146, July 31, p. 12. ———2000c, GM picks Nemak for aluminum castings: American Metal

Market, v. 108, no. 186, September 26, p. 16. ———2000d, GM’s plans for Precept give aluminum shot in the arm: American Metal Market, v. 108, no. 7, January 12, p. 6. ———2000e, Hayes plans to build aluminum casting foundry: American Metal

Market, v. 108, no. 50, March 15, p. 6. ———2000f, Metals still ride high in drive for lighter autos: American Metal

Market, v. 108, no. 38, February 28, p. 6. ———2000g, Nemak to supply castings for DaimlerChrysler engine: American

Metal Market, v. 108, no. 49, March 14, p. 6.

GENERAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION

U.S. Geological Survey Publications

Aluminum. Ch. in Mineral Commodity Summaries, annual. Aluminum. Mineral Industry Surveys, monthly. Aluminum and Bauxite. Ch. in United States Mineral

Resources, Professional Paper 820, 1973. Bauxite and Alumina. Ch. in Mineral Commodity Summaries,

annual. Primary Aluminum Plants Worldwide, 1998. U.S. Trade in Bauxite and Alumina. Mineral Industry Surveys,

quarterly. World Bauxite Resources, Professional Paper 1076-B, 1986.

Other

Alumina Plants Worldwide, U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1993. Aluminum. Ch. in Mineral Facts and Problems, U.S. Bureau of

Mines Bulletin 675, 1985. Aluminum Association Inc. Aluminum Statistical Review,

annual. Bauxite Mines Worldwide, U.S. Bureau of Mines, 1994.TABLE 1

SALIENT ALUMINUM STATISTICS 1/

(Thousand metric tons, unless otherwise specified)

1996 1997 1998 1999 2000

United States: Primary production 3,577 3,603 3,713 3,779 3,668 Value (million dollars) $5,630 $6,120 $5,360 $5,470 $6,030 Price (average cents per pound), U.S. market (spot) 71.3 77.1 65.5 65.7 74.6 Inventories (December 31): Aluminum industry 2/ 1,860 1,860 1,930 1,870 1,550 LME stocks in U.S. warehouses 3/ 33 8 13 14 (4/) National Defense Stockpile 57 (4/) -- -- -- Secondary recovery: 5/ 3,310 3,550 3,440 3,690 r/ 3,450 New scrap 1,730 2,020 1,950 2,120 r/ 2,080 Old scrap 1,570 1,530 1,500 1,570 r/ 1,370 Exports (crude and semicrude) 1,500 1,570 1,590 1,640 1,760 Imports for consumption (cr ude and semicrude) 2,810 3,080 3,550 4,000 3,910 Aluminum industry shipments 6/ 8,330 8,880 9,260 9,840 9,840 Supply, apparent 7/ 8,340 8,740 9,040 9,890 r/ 9,610 Consumption, apparent 8/ 6,610 6,720 7,090 7,770 r/ 7,530 World production 20,800 r/ 21,700 r/ 22,600 r/ 23,600 r/ 24,000 e/

e/ Estimated. r/ Revised. -- Zero. 1/ Data are rounded to no more than three signifi cant digits, except "Primary production" and "Prices." 2/ Includes ingot, semifabricated material, and scrap. Data for 1996 through 1998 from Current Industrial Reports, Series M33- D, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau. Data for 1999 and 2000 from Aluminum Association Inc. 3/ Includes aluminum alloyed material.

4/ Less than 1/2 unit. 5/ Metallic recovery from purchased, tolled, or imported new and old scra p expanded for full industry coverage. 6/ Shipped to domestic industry. 7/ Defined as domestic primary metal produc tion plus secondary recovery plus imports minus exports plus adjustments for Governm ent and industry stocks changes. 8/ Apparent supply less recovery from purchased new scrap.

TABLE 2 PRIMARY ANNUAL ALUMINUM PRODUCTION CAPACITY IN THE UNITED STATES, BY COMPANY 1/

Yearend capacity (thousand metric tons) Company 1999 2000 2000 ownership Alcan Aluminum Corp.: Sebree, KY 186 186 Alcan Aluminium Ltd., 100%.

Alcoa Inc.: 2/ Alcoa, TN 210 210 Alcoa Inc., 100%. Badin, NC 115 115 Do. Evansville, IN (Warrick) 300 300 Do. Ferndale, WA (Intalco) 272 272 Alcoa Inc., 61%; Mitsui and Co. Ltd., 32%; YKK Corp., 7%

. Frederick, MD (Eastalco) 174 174 Do. Longview, WA 3/ 204 204 Alcoa Inc., 100% Massena, NY 3/ 123 123 Do. Massena, NY 125 125 Do. Mount Holly, SC 215 r/ 215 Alcoa Inc., 50.3%; Century Aluminum Co., 49.7%. Rockdale, TX 315 315 Alcoa Inc., 100%. Troutdale, OR 3/ 121 121 Do. Wenatchee, WA 220 220 Do. Total 2,390 r/ 2,390 Century Aluminum Co.: Ravenswood, WV 168 r/ 168 Century Aluminum Co., 100%.

Columbia Falls Aluminum Co.: Columbia Falls, MT 168 168 Glencore AG, 100%

Goldendale Aluminum Co.: Goldendale, WA 168 168 Private interest, 60%; employees, 40%. Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp.: Mead, WA (Spokane) 200 200 MAXXAM Inc., 100%. Tacoma, WA 73 73 Do.

Total 273 273

See footnotes at end of table.TABLE 2--Continued PRIMARY ANNUAL ALUMINUM PRODUCTION CAPACITY IN THE UNITED STATES, BY COMPANY 1/

Yearend capacity (thousand metric tons) Company 1999 2000 2000 ownership

NSA: Hawesville, KY 237 237 Southwire Co., 100%.

Noranda Aluminum Inc.: New Madrid, MO 222 r/ 222 Noranda Mines Ltd., 100%. Northwest Aluminum Corp.: The Dalles, OR 82 82 Private interests, 100%. Ormet Primary Aluminum Corp.: Hannibal, OH 255 257 Ormet Corp., 100%.

Vanalco Inc.: Vancouver, WA 116 116 Vanalco Inc., 100%. Grand total 4,270 4,270

r/ Revised. 1/ Data are rounded to no more three significant digits; may not add to totals shown. 2/ Individual plant capacities are U.S. Geological Survey estimates based on company reported total. 3/ Alcoa and Reynolds merged in June 2000.

TABLE 3

U.S. CONSUMPTION OF AND RECOVERY FROM PURCHASED NEW AND OLD ALUMINUM SCRAP, BY CLASS 1/ 2/

(Metric tons)

Calculated recovery Class Consumption Aluminum Metallic

1999: Secondary smelters 2,130,000 r/ 1,450,000 r/ 1,560,000 r/ Integrated aluminum companies 1,230,000 1,010,000 1,080,000 Independent mill fabricators 787,000 674,000 720,000 Foundries 101,000 85,300 91,300 Other consumers 8,880 8,810 8,810 Total 4,250,000 r/ 3,230,000 r/ 3,460,000 r/ Estimated full industry coverage 4,560,000 r/ 3,450,000 r/ 3,690,000 r/

2000: Secondary smelters 1,960,000 1,350,000 1,450,000 Integrated aluminum companies 1,060,000 873,000 930,000 Independent mill fabricators 800,000 689,000 736,000 Foundries 95,600 80,200 85,800 Other consumers 14,600 14,600 14,600 Total 3,940,000 3,010,000 3,220,000 Estimated full industry coverage 4,220,000 3,220,000 3,450,000

r/ Revised. 1/ Excludes recovery from other than aluminum-base scrap. 2/ Data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown.

TABLE 4 U.S. STOCKS, RECEIPTS, AND CONSUMPTION OF PURCHASED NEW AND OLD ALUMINUM SCRAP AND

SWEATED PIG IN 2000 1/ 2/

(Metric tons)

Stocks, Net Stocks, Class of consumer and type of scrap J anuary 1 receipts 3/ Consumption December 31 Secondary smelters: New scrap: Solids 12,800 r/ 300,000 294,000 18,300 Borings and turnings 7,950 r/ 325,000 324,000 9,660 Dross and skimmings 4,260 r/ 531,000 532,000 4,080 Other 4/ 3,750 r/ 222,000 222,000 3,060 Total 28,700 r/ 1,380,000 1,370,000 35,100

See footnotes at end of table.TABLE 4--Continued U.S. STOCKS, RECEIPTS, AND CONSUMPTION OF PURCHASED NEW AND OLD ALUMINUM SCRAP AND

SWEATED PIG IN 2000 1/ 2/

(Metric tons)

Stocks, Net Stocks, Class of consumer and type of scrap J anuary 1 receipts 3/ Consumption December 31 Secondary smelters--Continued: Old scrap: Castings, sheet, clippings 6,650 r/ 352,000 354,000 4,730 Aluminum-copper radiators 2,130 r/ 20,600 21,000 1,710 Aluminum cans 5/ 1,170 r/ 88,200 88,000 1,350 Other 6/ 5,930 r/ 119,000 119,000 5,990 Total 15,900 r/ 580,000 582,000 13,800 Sweated pig 465 r/ 10,800 11,100 191 Total secondary smelters 45,100 r/ 1,970,000 1,960,000 49,100 Integrated aluminum companies, foundries, independent mill fabricators, other consumers: New scrap: Solids 22,400 801,000 806,000 17,900 Borings and turnings 104 23,100 22,900 318 Dross and skimmings 131 8,480 8,470 137 Other 4/ 9,690 r/ 212,000 214,000 6,930 Total 32,400 r/ 1,040,000 1,050,000 25,300 Old scrap: Castings, sheet, clippings 3,060 148,000 144,000 6,940 Aluminum-copper radiators 439 6,500 6,700 241 Aluminum cans 13,600 r/ 750,000 737,000 26,900 Other 6/ 22 29,800 29,800 22 Total 17,100 r/ 935,000 918,000 34,100 Sweated pig 86 2,840 2,740 179 Total integrated aluminum companies, etc. 49,500 r/ 1,980,000 1,970,000 59,600 All scrap consumed: New scrap: Solids 35,200 r/ 1,100,000 1,100,000 36,200 Borings and turnings 8,050 r/ 348,000 347,000 9,970 Dross and skimmings 4,400 r/ 540,000 540,000 4,210 Other 4/ 13,400 r/ 433,000 437,000 9,990 Total 61,100 r/ 2,420,000 2,420,000 60,400 Old scrap: Castings, sheet, clippings 9,710 r/ 500,000 498,000 11,700 Aluminum-copper radiators 2,570 r/ 27,100 27,700 1,960 Aluminum cans 14,700 r/ 838,000 825,000 28,300 Other 6/ 5,960 r/ 149,000 149,000 6,010 Total 33,000 r/ 1,510,000 1,500,000 47,900 Sweated pig 551 r/ 13,600 13,800 370 Total of all scrap consumed 94,600 r/ 3,950,000 3,940,000 109,000

r/ Revised. 1/ Includes imported scrap. According to reporting comp anies, 24.5% of total receipts of aluminum-base scrap, or 974,000 metric tons, was received on toll arrangements. 2/ Data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown. 3/ Includes inventory adjustment. 4/ Includes data on foil, can stock clippings, and other miscellaneous. 5/ Used beverage cans toll treated for primary pro ducers are included in secondary smelter tabulation. 6/ Includes municipal wastes (includes litter) and fragmentized scrap (auto shredder).TABLE 5

PRODUCTION AND SHIPMENTS OF SECONDARY ALUMINUM ALLOYS BY INDEPENDENT SMELTERS

IN THE UNITED STATES 1/

(Metric tons)

1999 2000

Net Net Production shipments 2/ Production shipments 2/ Diecast alloys: 13% Si, 360, etc. (0.6% Cu, maximum) 24,700 r/ 24,600 r/ 30,600 30,200 380 and variations 424,000 r/ 419,000 r/ 515,000 526,000 Sand and permanent mold: 95/5 Al-Si, 356, etc. (0.6% Cu, maximum) 31,300 r/ 31,200 r/ 127,000 126,000 No. 319 and variations 148,000 r/ 139,000 r/ 137,000 139,000 F-132 alloy and variations 38,100 r/ 37,500 r/ 30,400 30,200 Al-Mg alloys 639 639 639 639 Al-Zn alloys 2,520 r/ 1,950 r/ 2,240 2,930 Al-Si alloys (0.6% to 2.0% Cu) 2,020 2,020 2,020 2,020 Al-Cu alloys (1.5% Si, maximum) 924 924 2,290 2,290 Al-Si-Cu-Ni alloys 949 952 949 951 Other 712 761 1,320 1,350 Wrought alloys, extrusion billets 221,000 r/ 221,000 r/ 210,000 210,000

Miscellaneous: Steel deoxidation (3/) (3/) (3/) (3/) Pure (97.0% Al) (3/) (3/) (3/) (3/) Aluminum-base hardeners 3,470 3,480 3,470 3,470 Other 4/ 125,000 r/ 121,000 r/ 122,000 124,000 Total 1,020,000 r/ 1,000,000 r/ 1,190,000 1,200,000 Less consumption of materials other than scrap: Primary aluminum 77,400 r/ XX 77,600 XX Primary silicon 49,200 r/ XX 50,200 XX Other 10,400 r/ XX 16,700 XX Net metallic recovery from aluminum scrap and sweated pig 887,000 r/ XX 1,040,000 XX consumed in production of secondary aluminum ingot 5/ r/ Revised. XX Not applicable. 1/ Data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown. 2/ Includes inventory adjustment. 3/ Withheld to avoid disclosing company proprietary data; included with "Miscellaneous: Other." 4/ Includes other die-cast alloys. 5/ No allowance made for melt-loss of primary aluminum and alloying ingredients.

TABLE 6

DISTRIBUTION OF END-USE SHIPMENTS OF ALUMINUM PRODUCTS IN THE UNITED STATES, BY INDUSTRY 1/

1999 2000 Quantity Percent Quantity Percent (thousand of grand (thousand of grand Industry metric tons) total metric tons) total Containers and packaging 2,320 20.7 2,260 20.4 Building and construction 1,470 13.1 1,450 13.1 Transportation 3,600 32.2 3,610 32.5

Electrical 739 6.6 770 6.9

Consumer durables 760 6.8 770 6.9 Machinery and equipment 661 5.9 679 6.1

Other markets 293 2.6 293 2.6 Total to domestic users 9,840 88.1 9,840 88.6 Exports e/ 1,330 11.9 1,270 11.4 Grand total 11,200 100.0 11,100 100.0

e/ Estimated. 1/ Data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown.

Source: The Aluminum Association Inc.TABLE 7

U.S. NET SHIPMENTS OF ALUMINUM WROUGHT

AND CAST PRODUCTS, BY PRODUCERS 1/ 2/

(Thousand metric tons)

1999 2000 Wrought products: Sheet, plate, foil 5,000 r/ 4,840 Pipe, tube, extruded, shapes 1,640 r/ 1,920 Rod, bar, wire, cable 549 r/ 303 Forgings (including impacts) 108 r/ 106 Powder, flake, paste 54 59 Total 7,360 r/ 7,230 Castings:

Sand 158 NA Permanent and semipermanent mold 533 NA Die 1,030 NA

Other 135 NA Total 1,850 NA Grand total 9,210 NA

r/ Revised. NA Not available. 1/ Net shipments derived by subtracting the sum of producers' domestic receipts of each mill shape from the domestic industry's gross shipments of that shape. 2/ Data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may

not add to totals shown.

Source: The Aluminum Association Inc.; U.S. Department of

Commerce.

TABLE 8 U.S. EXPORTS OF ALUMINUM, BY COUNTRY 1/

Metals and alloys, crude Plates, sheets, bars, etc. 2/ Scrap Total Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Country or territory (metric tons) (thousands) (metric tons) (thousands) (metric tons) (thousands) (metric tons) (thousands)

1999: Azerbaijan -- -- 1 $3 -- -- 1 $3 Brazil 110 $714 60,200 172,000 17 $96 60,300 173,000 Canada 145,000 225,000 489,000 1,180,000 162,000 149,000 795,000 1,560,000 France 143 541 6,990 30,900 85 129 7,220 31,500 Germany 1,610 6,900 5,640 32,200 90 279 7,340 39,400 Hong Kong 661 1,230 4,110 15,600 24,600 33,100 29,400 49,900 Italy 127 269 2,530 12,500 53 122 2,710 12,900 Japan 71,700 113,000 10,400 87,400 35,200 40,700 117,000 241,000 Korea, Republic of 798 2,440 16,700 53,100 29,300 29,100 46,800 84,600 Mexico 93,700 147,000 152,000 444,000 60,400 79,100 306,000 670,000 Netherlands 130 289 1,310 6,610 711 793 2,150 7,700 Philippines 14 65 536 2,460 296 98 847 2,620

Russia 5 73 9 85 -- -- 14 158 Saudi Arabia 1 7 8,150 22,400 64 128 8,210 22,500 Singapore 111 575 1,850 13,200 1,290 1,750 3,250 15,500

Slovakia -- -- 9 54 -- -- 9 54

Slovenia -- -- 55 128 3 12 58 140 South Africa (3/) 8 327 1,930 (3/) 4 328 1,940 Taiwan 660 1,740 10,900 33,200 31,300 29,800 42,900 64,800 Thailand 106 205 3,900 14,400 92 135 4,100 14,700 Ukraine -- -- (3/) 4 -- -- (3/) 4 United Kingdom 1,040 5,270 16,700 72,800 403 810 18,100 78,800 Venezuela 229 1,990 17,900 38,700 -- -- 18,100 40,700 Other 2,640 7,610 98,500 330,000 73,500 80,000 175,000 418,000 Total 318,000 515,000 907,000 2,570,000 419,000 445,000 1,640,000 3,530,000

See footnotes at end of table.TABLE 8--Continued U.S. EXPORTS OF ALUMINUM, BY COUNTRY 1/

Metals and alloys, crude Plates, sheets, bars, etc. 2/ Scrap Total Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Country or territory (metric tons) (thousands) (metric tons) (thousands) (metric tons) (thousands) (metric tons) (thousands)

2000: Azerbaijan -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Brazil 829 1,520 31,900 98,100 159 180 32,900 99,800 Canada 125,000 208,000 504,000 1,310,000 225,000 221,000 854,000 1,740,000 France 30 122 5,530 29,400 1,790 3,290 7,350 32,800 Germany 858 5,130 4,980 30,100 1,150 2,820 6,990 38,100 Hong Kong 1,440 2,420 2,610 13,000 28,900 34,400 33,000 49,900 Italy 33 111 2,070 12,000 8 11 2,110 12,100 Japan 44,300 74,400 9,840 74,400 27,800 35,500 81,900 184,000 Korea, Republic of 3,640 11,900 20,500 77,000 34,100 38,100 58,200 127,000 Mexico 87,700 140,000 156,000 523,000 78,000 105,000 321,000 768,000 Netherlands 244 1,020 3,280 12,900 415 621 3,940 14,500 Philippines 41 61 774 3,530 265 435 1,080 4,020 Russia -- -- 211 1,180 47 64 258 1,250 Saudi Arabia 1 11 8,380 20,300 2 6 8,380 20,300 Singapore 414 1,160 2,630 15,700 346 459 3,390 17,300

Slovakia -- -- 11 35 -- -- 11 35 Slovenia -- -- (3/) 4 -- -- (3/) 4 South Africa 24 220 80 919 15 68 118 1,210 Taiwan 2,200 3,540 8,430 31,000 30,300 31,500 40,900 66,000 Thailand 822 1,720 6,860 24,300 1,020 1,420 8,700 27,400

Ukraine -- -- 1 25 -- -- 1 25 United Kingdom 1,090 3,770 20,400 94,700 5,450 5,910 26,900 104,000 Venezuela 63 125 17,200 40,200 33 117 17,300 40,500 Other 4,800 12,400 102,000 353,000 141,000 167,000 248,000 532,000 Total 273,000 468,000 907,000 2,770,000 576,000 648,000 1,760,000 3,880,000

-- Zero. 1/ Data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown. 2/ Includes castings, forgings, and unclassified semifabricated forms.

3/ Less than 1/2 unit.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

TABLE 9 U.S. EXPORTS OF ALUMINUM, BY CLASS 1/

1999 2000 Quantity Value Quantity Value Class (metric tons) (thousands) (metric tons) (thousands)

Crude and semicrude: Metals and alloys, crude 318,000 $515,000 273,000 $468,000 Scrap 419,000 445,000 576,000 648,000 Plates, sheets, bars, strip, etc. 857,000 2,280,000 845,000 2,380,000 Castings and forgings 15,300 113,000 14,700 137,000 Semifabricated forms, n.e.c. 34,600 171,000 48,000 248,000 Total 1,640,000 3,530,000 1,760,000 3,880,000

Manufactures: Foil and leaf 65,000 211,000 61,100 219,000 Powders and flakes 8,320 35,800 9,600 47,500 Wire and cable 33,100 127,000 29,500 122,000 Total 106,000 374,000 100,000 388,000 Grand total 1,750,000 3,900,000 1,860,000 4,270,000 1/ Data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.TABLE 10 U.S. IMPORTS FOR CONSUMPTION OF ALUMINUM, BY CLASS 1/

1999 2000 Quantity Value Quantity Value Class (metric tons) (thousands) (metric tons) (thousands)

Crude and semicrude: Metals and alloys, crude 2,650,000 $3,760,000 2,490,000 $4,030,000 Plates, sheets, strip, etc., n.e.c. 2/ 593,000 1,330,000 628,000 1,530,000 Pipes, tubes, etc. 24,100 98,100 20,800 109,000 Rods and bars 118,000 349,000 142,000 449,000 Scrap 615,000 666,000 625,000 744,000 Total 4,000,000 6,200,000 3,910,000 6,860,000

Manufactures: Foil and leaf 3/ 89,900 271,000 87,800 293,000 Flakes and powders 3,560 10,100 5,020 14,000 Wire 97,600 172,000 118,000 231,000 Total 191,000 452,000 211,000 538,000 Grand total 4,190,000 6,660,000 4,120,000 7,400,000 1/ Data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown. 2/ Includes plates, sheets, circles, and disks. 3/ Excludes etched capacitor foil.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

TABLE 11 U.S. IMPORTS FOR CONSUMPTION OF ALUMINUM, BY COUNTRY 1/

Metals and alloys, crude Plates, sheets, bars, etc. 2/ Scrap Total Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Country (metric tons) (thousands) (metric tons) (thousands) (metric tons) (thousands) (metric tons) (thousands)

1999: Argentina 22,400 $32,200 1,330 $2,330 3,990 $5,110 27,700 $39,700 Australia 60,900 89,700 2,050 4,220 9 14 63,000 94,000 Bahrain 22,700 32,300 26,600 48,400 -- -- 49,200 80,700 Belgium 20 468 4,050 11,900 198 197 4,260 12,600 Brazil 56,700 74,100 1,720 3,450 33,100 37,800 91,500 115,000 Canada 1,500,000 2,210,000 427,000 943,000 287,000 314,000 2,210,000 3,460,000

Croatia -- -- 273 933 -- -- 273 933 Czech Republic 83 106 591 1,740 40 45 714 1,890 France 492 4,960 11,800 53,500 11,500 10,400 23,900 68,900 Germany 813 4,490 38,900 146,000 6,810 10,100 46,500 161,000 Italy 2,130 2,530 3,030 9,780 518 581 5,670 12,900 Japan 429 942 23,600 80,100 816 929 24,800 82,000 Korea, Republic of -- -- 21,400 42,300 -- -- 21,400 42,300 Mexico 2,460 4,280 17,700 56,100 86,100 90,700 106,000 151,000 Netherlands 1,280 2,070 3,490 10,400 10,700 13,100 15,400 25,600 Norway 3,280 6,270 1,610 2,830 140 142 5,030 9,240 Panama 367 650 1,230 3,340 5,820 6,390 7,420 10,400 Russia 711,000 939,000 54,700 96,800 65,300 68,600 831,000 1,100,000

Slovakia 203 216 1 2 -- -- 204 218 Slovenia -- -- 4,000 11,800 -- -- 4,000 11,800 South Africa 18,300 24,000 4,070 10,400 169 144 22,500 34,500 Spain 273 427 3,230 7,360 2,100 2,370 5,600 10,200 Tajikistan 17,200 20,600 -- -- -- -- 17,200 20,600 Ukraine 26,600 30,600 (3/) 10 5,510 6,310 32,200 36,900 United Arab Emirates 17,800 25,100 -- -- 3,240 3,130 21,000 28,300 United Kingdom 10,900 14,300 15,100 56,000 19,500 21,000 45,500 91,300 Venezuela 127,000 178,000 16,800 29,100 26,000 29,500 169,000 236,000 Other 53,000 69,700 51,200 143,000 46,500 45,300 151,000 258,000 Total 2,650,000 3,760,000 735,000 1,770,000 615,000 666,000 4,000,000 6,200,000

See footnotes at end of table.TABLE 11--Continued U.S. IMPORTS FOR CONSUMPTION OF ALUMINUM, BY COUNTRY 1/

Metals and alloys, crude Plates, sheets, bars, etc. 2/ Scrap Total Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Quantity Value Country (metric tons) (thousands) (metric tons) (thousands) (metric tons) (thousands) (metric tons) (thousands)

2000: Argentina 59,000 100,000 1,360 2,950 1,300 1,710 61,700 105,000 Australia 23,000 38,800 2,840 6,300 -- -- 25,800 45,100 Bahrain 22,000 37,300 22,000 45,100 103 49 44,100 82,500 Belgium 21 97 3,690 11,600 99 120 3,810 11,800 Brazil 42,800 69,700 9,810 17,200 32,900 48,900 85,500 136,000 Canada 1,420,000 2,390,000 435,000 1,050,000 289,000 345,000 2,150,000 3,780,000

Croatia -- -- 163 547 -- -- 163 547 Czech Republic 21 29 307 1,040 -- -- 328 1,070 France 869 8,230 10,400 43,200 11,400 9,820 22,700 61,300 Germany 643 4,810 41,700 163,000 6,740 8,380 49,100 176,000 Italy 200 265 2,980 10,700 35 44 3,220 11,000 Japan 336 787 21,400 80,500 753 1,360 22,500 82,700 Korea, Republic of 89 274 13,300 33,900 514 1,050 13,900 35,200 Mexico 4,570 6,670 22,000 79,000 76,000 85,800 102,000 171,000 Netherlands 218 626 4,200 13,000 2,510 2,620 6,930 16,300 Norway 7,010 13,500 106 418 -- -- 7,110 14,000 Panama 12 14 1,480 4,710 7,200 9,040 8,690 13,800 Russia 670,000 996,000 66,500 159,000 100,000 122,000 837,000 1,280,000

Slovakia 255 273 2 9 -- -- 257 282 Slovenia -- -- 4,350 14,000 -- -- 4,350 14,000 South Africa 24,000 36,400 23,300 53,500 599 660 47,900 90,600 Spain 343 644 402 1,630 161 205 905 2,470 Ukraine 10,200 12,600 -- -- 6,830 7,240 17,000 19,800 United Arab Emirates 53,300 94,900 -- -- 4,990 6,080 58,300 101,000 United Kingdom 5,290 8,210 15,400 60,700 5,650 6,340 26,300 75,200 Venezuela 120,000 165,000 24,900 47,900 19,800 23,300 165,000 236,000 Other 25,800 42,400 63,700 187,000 58,400 64,200 148,000 293,000 Total 2,490,000 4,030,000 791,000 2,080,000 625,000 744,000 3,910,000 6,860,000

-- Zero. 1/ Data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to totals shown. 2/ Includes circles, disks, rods, pipes, tubes, etc.

3/ Less than 1/2 unit.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

TABLE 12 ALUMINUM, PRIMARY: WORLD PRODUCTION, BY COUNTRY 1/ 2/

(Thousand metric tons)

Country 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 e/ Argentina 184 187 187 205 r/ 260 Australia 1,372 1,495 1,627 1,718 1,769 3/ Azerbaijan 1 5 -- e/ -- e/ --

Bahrain 461 490 501 r/ 503 r/ 509 3/ Bosnia and Herzegovina e/ 4/ 10 15 28 r/ 70 r/ 90 Brazil 1,195 1,200 1,208 1,250 1,277 3/

Cameroon e/ 82 91 82 r/ 92 r/ 95 Canada 2,283 2,327 2,374 2,390 2,373 3/ China e/ 1,770 1,960 2,340 2,530 r/ 2,550

Croatia e/ 4/ 38 3/ 35 35 35 35 Egypt 179 178 195 r/ 193 r/ 193

France 380 399 e/ 424 455 r/ 441 3/ Germany 576 572 612 634 r/ 644 3/

Ghana 137 152 56 e/ 104 r/ 156 3/

Greece 141 133 146 160 r/ 163 3/ Hungary e/ 30 3/ 35 35 35 35

See footnotes at end of table.TABLE 12--Continued ALUMINUM, PRIMARY: WORLD PRODUCTION, BY COUNTRY 1/ 2/

(Thousand metric tons)

Country 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 e/

Iceland 5/ 104 123 173 r/ 220 r/ 224 3/

India 6/ 531 484 542 550 e/ 560

Indonesia e/ 6/ 225 216 3/ 130 100 160

Iran 80 r/ 92 r/ 124 r/ 137 r/ 140 Italy 184 188 188 e/ 187 r/ 189 3/ Japan 7/ 17 17 16 r/ 11 r/ 7 3/

Mexico 6/ 61 66 62 67 r/ 66 Mozambique -- -- -- -- 54

Netherlands 227 232 264 e/ 287 r/ 300

New Zealand 283 r/ 310 r/ 318 r/ 327 r/ 325 Nigeria e/ -- 3/ 3 20 16 -- Norway 863 919 996 1,020 r/ 1,026 3/

Poland 8/ 52 54 54 55 e/ 55

Romania 9/ 141 163 170 r/ 174 r/ 175 Russia 2,874 2,906 3,005 3,146 3,245 3/ Serbia and Montenegro 4/ 37 66 61 r/ 73 r/ 70

Slovakia 6/ 111 r/ 110 r/ 108 r/ 109 r/ 110 3/

Slovenia e/ 4/ 60 60 50 e/ 50 50

South Africa 570 673 677 r/ 679 r/ 671 3/ Spain 362 360 362 364 r/ 366 3/

Suriname e/ 32 3/ 32 29 10 --

Sweden 98 98 96 e/ 99 r/ 101 3/

Switzerland 27 27 32 34 r/ 35 Tajikistan 198 206 r/ 196 229 300 3/ Turkey 60 62 62 62 60

Ukraine 90 e/ 101 107 112 104 3/

United Arab Emirates 259 378 387 440 e/ 500 United Kingdom 240 248 258 272 305 3/ United States 3,577 3,603 3,713 3,779 3,668 3/

Venezuela 629 634 585 r/ 570 570 Total 20,800 r/ 21,700 r/ 22,600 r/ 23,600 r/ 24,000

e/ Estimated. r/ Revised. -- Zero. 1/ World totals and estimated data are rounded to no more than three significant digits; may not add to

totals shown. 2/ Primary aluminum is defined as "The weight of liquid aluminum as tapped from pots, excluding the weight of any alloying materials as well as that of any metal produced from either returned scrap or remelted materials." International reporting pr actices vary from country to country, some nations conforming to the foregoing definition and others using different definitions. For those countries for which a different definition is given specifically in the source publication, that definition is provided in this table by footnote. Table includes data available through May 11, 2001. 3/ Reported figure. 4/ Primary ingot plus secondary ingot. 5/ Ingot and rolling billet production. 6/ Primary ingot. 7/ Excludes high-purity aluminum containing 99.995% or more as follows, in metric tons: 1996-- 29,351; 1997--36,136; 1998--35,063; 1999--34,893 (revised); and 2000--40,956. 8/ Primary unalloyed ingot plus secondary unalloyed ingot. 9/ Primary unalloyed metal plus primary alloyed metal, thus including weight of alloying material.