Microsoft Word - ASX announcement 2015-3 San Ciprian
ASX Announcement
10 February 2015
San Ciprian Alumina Refinery converted to Natural Gas
Attached is an announcement by Alcoa Inc. that the Alcoa World Alumina & Chemicals (AWAC) alumina refinery in San Ciprian (Spain) has officially transitioned from fuel oil to natural gas following the completion of a new gas pipeline.
AWAC is a joint venture between Alumina Limited and Alcoa Inc. AWAC iis 60% owned and managed by Alcoa Inc. and 40% owned by Alumina Limited.
Some statements in this public announcement are forward-looking statements within the meaning of t he US Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements also include those containing such words as 'anticip ate', 'estimates', 'should', 'will',
'expects', 'plans' or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties th at may cause actual outcomes to be different from the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from the forward-looking statements include: (a) material adverse changes in global economic, alumina or aluminium industry conditions and the markets served by AWAC; (b) changes in production and development costs and production levels or to sales agreem ents; (c) changes in laws or regulations or policies; (d) changes in alumina and aluminium prices and currency exchange rates; an d (e) the other risk factors summarised in Alumina's Form 20-F for the year ended 31 December 2013.
For investor enquiries:
Chris Thiris
Investor Relations Phone: +61 418 388 122 [email protected]
For media enquiries:
Nerida Mossop
Hinton and Associates
Phone: +61 3 9600 19 79
Mobile: +61 437 361 4 33
Colin Hendry
Assistant Company Secretary
10 February 2015
Alumina Limited
ABN 85 004 820 419
GPO Box 5411
Melbourne Vic 3001
Australia
Level 12 IBM Centre
60 City Road
Southbank Vic 3006
Australia
Tel +61 (0)3 8699 2600
Fax +61 (0)3 8699 2699
Email [email protected]
Investor Contact Media Contact Kelly Pasterick Sonya Harden (212) 836-2674 (864) 836 2078
[email protected] [email protected]
Clara Acebes
Alcoa Spain
+ 34 914068280
[email protected]
Alcoa Converts San Ciprian Alumina Refinery to Natural Gas, Improving Global Competitiveness
US$25 Million Investment to transform refinery from fuel-oil to natural gas completed
San Ciprian 9 February, 2015 -- The Alcoa alumina refinery in San Ciprian (Lugo, Spain) today officially transitioned from fuel oil to natural gas following the completion of a new gas pipeline. The US$25 million investment to convert the refinery to natural gas is consistent with the Company's strategy to create a lower cost, globally competitive alumina business.
"We are increasing the ability of our San Ciprian refinery to compete on a global scale by converting the facility to a secure supply of natural gas, which is lower in cost over the long term and a cleaner alternative to fuel oil for refining," said Alan Cransberg, President of Alcoa Refining. "The San Ciprian team has worked diligently to make this transition happen and we're extremely pleased to see the pipeline inaugurated today."
The facility's shift to natural gas was designed to reduce energy costs at the refinery by
US$20 per metric ton compared to historic levels, supporting the Company's goal to improve its position on the alumina cost curve to the 21st percentile by 2016. At Alcoa's 2014 Investor Day,
the Company said that its position on the alumina cost curve had improved to the 25th percentile in 2014 from the 27th percentile in 2013.
The refinery's transition to natural gas also enables Alcoa to reduce its greenhouse gases,
cutting CO2 by 30 percent and eliminating SO2 emissions.
Inauguration Ceremony
The heads of the Galician Regional Government, Natural Gas-Fenosa - which is the owner of the new pipeline, and Alcoa Spain participated in a ceremony to celebrate the pipeline's inauguration.
"The opening of the pipeline in San Ciprian today marks the successful conclusion of a joint effort between regional Government 'Xunta de Galicia', with support of the Consellería of Economy and Industry; Natural Gas-Fenosa and Alcoa, and is consistent with Alcoa's ongoing commitment to energy efficiency," said Simon Baker, president of Alcoa's Global Energy Assets and European region. "Alcoa appreciates the strong support for this project by the Ministries of Industry and Environment to provide this infrastructure, which is essential for the La Mariña community and helps improve the competitiveness of the regional industry in general."
About San Ciprian
The San Ciprian alumina refinery is part of the AWAC joint venture, owned 60 percent by Alcoa and 40 percent by Alumina Limited, with an annual capacity of 1.5 million metric tons. The facility supplies alumina to several of Alcoa's European primary aluminum smelters as well as a wide variety of customers in the chemical, ceramics and construction materials markets.
About Alcoa
A global leader in lightweight metals technology, engineering and manufacturing, Alcoa innovates multi-material solutions that advance our world. Our technologies enhance transportation, from automotive and commercial transport to air and space travel, and improve industrial and consumer electronics products. We enable smart buildings, sustainable food and beverage packaging, high-performance defense vehicles across air, land and sea, deeper oil and gas drilling and more efficient power generation. We pioneered the aluminum industry over 125 years ago, and today, our approximately
59,000 people in 30 countries deliver value-add products made of titanium, nickel and aluminum, and produce best-in-class bauxite, alumina and primary aluminum products. For more information, visit www.alcoa.com, follow @Alcoa on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Alcoa and follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Alcoa.