Selected 2006 Annual Report Summaries: Aluminum

JOM, Nov 2007

BHP Itillitnn

NOTABLE: BHP Billiton's Aluminium group mines bauxite, refines bauxite into alumina, and smelts alumina into aluminum metal. The group has a total operating capacity of approximately 1.3 million t of aluminum per year. * The 250 kt/y expansion project was completed at the Worsley alumina refinery. This brings the facility's total capacity from 3.25 million t/y to 3.5 million t/y, of which BHP Billiton's share is 215 kt/y. * BHP Billiton approved the 2 million t expansion at the Alumar Alumina Refinery in Brazil. The project would increase annual alumina capacity at the plant to 3.5 million t/y. BHP has a 36% interest in the refinery, with the remaining 54% held by Alcoa affiliates (54%) and Alcan (10%). Commissioning is expected to be completed by mid-year 2008. * The Mozal (Mozambique) and Hillside (South Africa) smelters achieved record annual production from the same number of pots.

Century Aluminum

NOTABLE: Century Aluminum, based in Monterey, California, owns primary aluminum capacity in the United States and Iceland and holds an ownership interest in alumina and bauxite assets in the United States and Jamaica. * Century reported an increase of more than 10% in primary aluminum shipments in 2006. * Century completed a 130 kt expansion of the Nordural aluminum plant in Grundartangi, Iceland. The plant now has a capacity of 220 kt and is expected to reach 260 kt after the second-phase expansion is finished by yearend 2007. When that expansion is complete, Century Aluminum will have a total of 785 kt/y of primary aluminum capacity. Century acquired Nordural in 2004. * Nordural signed a memorandum of understanding to purchase electrical energy for its primary aluminum reduction project in Helguvik, Iceland. The agreement was reached with the two major Icelandic geothermal power producers, Hitaveita Sudurnesja and Orkuveita Reykjavikur. * The company shut down a potline at their Ravenswood operations in West Virginia from the end of July through the end of September in response to a notice to strike by the United Steelworkers. Each of the potlines at the Ravenswood facility has a rated capacity of approximately 42.5 kt/y. The company estimated that the shutdown would result in the loss of approximately 12 kt of production.

Companhia Vale do Rio Doce

NOTABLE: Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD), headquartered in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, is a mining and metals business with operations in 13 Brazilian states and 32 countries. The company conducts its aluminum operations through its fully owned Valesul Aluminio S.A. aluminum smelter, 51% share of the Albras-Alumfnio Brasileiro S.A. (Albras) smelter, a 57% share in the Alunorte-Alumina do Norte do Brasil S.A. (Alunorte) alumina refinery, and a 40% share in the Mineracao Rio do Norte S.A. (MRN) bauxite mine. * In 2006, CVRD reported that its aluminum business produced 550 kt of primary aluminum, 3.9 million t of alumina, and 7.1 million t of bauxite. * In 2006, CVRD and its partners concluded an expansion of the Alunorte alumina refinery to a nominal production capacity of 4.4 million t of alumina per year to become the largest refinery in the world, according to CVRD. An $846 million expansion is now in progress at Alunorte that will further increase refinery production capacity to 6.26 million t of alumina per year by mid-2008.