Aluminium Formwork Systems..........

Sumitomo Metal Industries, part of Japanese trading giant Sumitomo Group, has decided to pick up a 5.88 percent in Steel Strips Wheels (SSWL) in a transaction that signals a growing interest among leading Japanese companies to invest in India's steel sector. The Steel Strips Wheels board agrees to issue and allot 8.5 lakh equity shares to Sumitomo Metal at Rs 520 a share on a preferential allotment basis, totalling the payout by the Japanese company to about Rs 45 crore. After the issue, the paid-up share capital of the company shall increase from Rs 13.61 crore to Rs 14.46 crore.
This development comes close on the heels of JFE, Japan's largest steelmaker, investing $1 billion to buy 14.99 percent in JSW Steel. Earlier, Nippon Steel announced plans about a joint venture with Tata Steel, while Sumitomo has also sealed an alliance with Bhushan Steel for investing in the latter's proposed six-million tonne West Bengal project and for sourcing hot-rolled coils from Bhushan's newly-commissioned Orissa plant.
“The proceeds from the allotment would be used to part finance our expansion at Chennai and for developing R&D and tool room facilities,” said managing director Dheeraj Garg. “We are on track to becoming Asia's largest steel wheel maker,” he added. The proceeds would be used for expansion of the company's Chennai plant from 2.5 to 6 million wheels.
The company is also targeting to have a 21.5-million units facility by opening a Greenfield plant in Pune, said Garg. The entire transaction between Steel Strips Wheels and Sumitomo Metal is likely to be completed by November 30, 2010.
The SSWL board had approved an overall dilution of 15 percent of its capital through preferential basis. Sumitomo's investment forms the first part in a series of allotments which SSWL proposes to do. Currently, the company is in discussions with several strategic players for further stake sale.
This strategic investment by Sumitomo Metal will help SSWL to have a global footprint in the steel wheel segment. The high tensile steel grade would help in substantial wheel weight reduction, making the vehicle more fuel efficient.
Incidentally, Sumitomo owns Ring Tech, Japan's top maker of steel wheels, SSWL has had a technical alliance with Ring Tech since 1997. The alliance will give OEMs worldwide the benefit of a single window contact in regions such as Japan, China, India and Europe. This would give both Ring Tech and SSWL an edge in getting additional business from them. Ring tech has plants in Japan and China.

Growth in rolled copper product output in Japan narrowed to 13.6 percent in September, the smallest year-on-year gain in 10 months, as demand from semiconductor and autoparts makers slowed. Output rose for an 11th consecutive month from a year earlier to 75,082 tonnes in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, preliminary data from the Japan Copper and Brass Association showed. That was about 90 percent of levels before the credit crisis hit the global economy in September 2008. From August, September output increased 0.6 percent. Appetite for copper, used extensively in utensils, construction materials and computer chips, is often seen as a measure of economic activity.
The industry is concerned about output trends in and after October, although production was steady at least until September. Demand from chipmakers shows signs of stalling, while orders from autoparts makers have been weaker than in the past after carmakers announced production cuts in September. In the April-September first-half of the current financial year, rolled copper output totalled 437,963 tonnes, down from a recent peak of 487,830 tonnes hit in the first half of 2008. The association expects demand of 865,000 tonnes for the year to March 2011, up 14.8 percent from fiscal 2009-10. China imported 241,711 tonnes of refined copper in September, down 9.5 percent against previous month, with importers discouraged by relatively low domestic prices.

Sterlite Industries to decided to wait for the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board's (TNPCB) approval to resume operations at Tuticorin plant after the Madras High Court issued directive for immediate closure of the smelter unit at Tuticorin. The Tuticorn unit uses ISASmelt process which is an environmentally advanced technology. Sterlite Industries offers direct employment to nearly 3,000 people in Tamil Nadu.

JP Morgan has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch a new copper focused exchange traded fund (ETF). The move comes at a time copper is witnessing major gains and rising demand from China and India.
The soaring demand for copper has prompted JP Morgan to file for the launch of JP Morgan Physical Copper Trust. Warehousing firm, Henry Bath Group, will hold the copper in its facilities scattered around the world and handle transfers in and out of storage.
Copper prices have surged about 40 percent since June, reaching $8,423 in the most recent trading and the demand is expected to continue into next year, according to the two largest copper producers.
Steve Dew and Oliver Ludwig for Index Universe report that JPMorgan's proposed fund promises to give investors exposure to the spot price of copper, a material that is in increasing demand as emerging market countries, such as China, develop infrastructure.
Copper is an earmark for the health of the economy and it is used in various instances, such as telecommunications and energy transmission. The proposed fund is going to give investors physical exposure to the metal.
JP Morgan advises that the copper mine support will reach 16.3 million tonnes, a 1.5 percent increase from last year. The US Geological Survey estimates that proven and probable reserves amount to around 550 million tonnes. BHP Billiton and Brook Hunt have both indicated that copper reserves and resources are around 30 years of current demand levels.
In their filing, JP Morgan projects a 9 percent growth in copper demand this year. Current total copper projects in 2010 are 23.4 million tonnes including refined copper production from primary and secondary material and the direct use of secondary material in the fabric sector.

Exports of rolled-aluminium products from Japan rises for yet again in the month of September posting a growth of 8.5 percent against the corresponding period last year. A statement from the Japan Aluminium Association informed that the shipments of rolled-aluminum products from Japan expanded for the 10th straight month. The country shipped 170,443 tonnes of the metal products for the period against 157,085 tonnes registered a year earlier.
However, the growth in the rise of exports has declined from 13% recorded for the month of August. The experts noted that the shipments to carmakers slowed because of an end to subsidy payments by the government to buyers of fuel-efficient models last month.
Japan's largest aluminium consuming sector, Can manufacturers increased consumption by 20 percent to 33,913 tonnes as higher temperatures last month boosted consumption of beverages. Meanwhile, the growth in demand from the auto industry slowed to 15 percent in September from 29 percent in August. In the month of August, vehicle sales in Japan was registered to be the most in past 38 years. Japan's output of rolled-aluminium products stood at 171,063 tonnes for the month of September, 2010, up 11.4 percent from August and 9.7 percent from the corresponding period last year. The country has inventory of 50,517 tonnes in September down 6.4 percent from a year earlier and up marginally by 1.2 percent from that in August.

Public sector National Aluminium Co (NALCO) sees lower aluminium exports in the current financial year on increased domestic demand, propelled by power and construction sectors. The Orissa-based firm aims to export 112,000 tonnes of aluminium in the current financial year as compared to 146,948 tonnes sold a year earlier. Export will be less due to higher demand of both aluminium and alumina in the domestic market. Overseas shipment of alumina, the raw material to produce aluminium, may decline a marginal by 20,000 tonnes to 700,000 tonnes in 2010-11. Nalco expects average aluminium prices to be at $2,100-$2,300 per tonne this year from $1,850 a tonne in the previous year. Though, Nalco is a small exporter, its prices serve as an international benchmark for metal traders as they use its tender results as a reference point. Meanwhile, the company's domestic sales have gone up because of the growth in construction and power sectors. Nalco's aluminium output this year would be higher at 435,000 tonnes from 431,488 tonnes in 2009-10. Analysts expect India's aluminium demand to grow between 8-13 percent this year from 7 percent in the previous year on economic growth prospects.

Aluminum output in China may grow to 16 million metric tons this year, even as the world's largest producer curbs power supplies to smelters, said an official from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
“The forecast has taken the output cuts into consideration,” said Zhang Fengkui, head of the nonferrous metals office at the ministry's raw materials department, said at a conference in Zhengzhou. That's an increase of 23 percent from 13 million tons last year. Aluminum is used in production of cars & cans.
Aluminum smelters in Henan, Guizhou, Qinghai provinces and Guangxi region have started suspending some capacity as local governments strive to meet Beijing's energy-conservation goals set for 2010. China last month imported more of the metal than it exported for the first time since May as energy curbs cut output.
“The high costs will drive aluminum smelters to cut energy consumption and move to more energy-rich regions in the west,” said Hu Changping, director of the aluminum department at the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association. Power fees account for about half of Chinese smelters' output costs, the highest level compared with producers around the world, said Hu.
Domestic production of the light metal has fallen every month since June after the government ended discounts on electricity charges and doubled surcharges for high-energy consumption companies.
Alumimum has gained 6.1 percent this year on the London Metal Exchange, reaching a six-month high this month of $2,459 a ton. The three-month contract declined 0.3 percent to $2,366.75 at 4:31 p.m. in Shanghai.
Nearly 1 million tons of capacity may have to be shut in Henan province, China's largest aluminum-producing region, in the fourth quarter, said the MIIT's Zhang.

China's aluminum surplus is likely to narrow next year, as strong growth in consumption will absorb an increase an output, according to Beijing Antaike Information Development Co.
The world's largest consumer is estimated to have a 350,000-metric-ton surplus this year, down from an earlier forecast of 800,000 tons, said Antaike analyst Li Yang in a speech at a conference in Zhengzhou today. He forecast the surplus will narrow further to 300,000 tons in 2011.
Aluminum is used in cars, cans and airplanes. Alcoa Materials President Timothy Reyes said the country is going to shift to a net aluminum importer in the next few years.
The country's consumption is likely to total 16.8 million tons this year, up 22 percent from 2009, while output may gain 28 percent to 17.5 million tons, Li said. Exports of aluminum and its alloy may reach 350,000 tons, he said.
Aluminum output in China may grow to 16 million tons this year, said Zhang Fengkui, head of the nonferrous metals office at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Antaike forecast output will grow 11 percent to 19.5 million tons in 2011, while consumption will increase 12 percent to 18.8 million tons and exports will total 400,000 tons.

Renforth Resources Inc announced the acquisition rights to acquire a 100 percent interest in the Mina Maria Luisa project located in Southwestern Spain, approximately 30 kilometres from the Aguas Tenidas Mine. An aerial photo of the Property as it is today appears below.
The Property project includes the past-producing Maria Luisa mine, which is situated in the Ossa Morena Zone of the Northern part of Huelva province in Spain, approximately 117 kilometres north of Seville, alongside the main highway between the towns of Huelva and Badajoz as shown above. The Property consists of a 24 square kilometres land package, including the old plant, historic tailings dumps and an open pit remaining from historic mining activities. In addition the project includes a valid water license.
The mined out area consists of two distinct zones which are connected underground, the Corta zone and the Levante zone. The Corta zone was mined initially as an open pit and later as an underground, whereas the Levante zone was mined strictly as an underground project. There is also a large unexplored soil geochemical anomaly on the property.
Renforth has acquired an initial 5 percent ownership interest in Promotora Minera del Sur, SL, a corporation which owns the Property, along with the right to explore the Property and the option to purchase the balance of the outstanding shares of the Promotora.

Sumitomo Metal Mining Co said copper ore mined from Chile, and shipped to Indonesia, will be in short supply for at least the next five years. Antofagasta Plc, which owns three Chilean mines, said a scarcity will persist for “the foreseeable future.” BHP Billiton Ltd. said production from Escondida in Chile, the world's biggest copper mine, will drop as much as 10 percent in 2011 because of lower ore grades.
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc said it plans to defer some output at its Grasberg mine (the world's second largest mine) in Indonesia. Citing safety reasons Freeport will forego the mining of about 130 million pounds of copper through 2014. Global treatment fees have tumbled as smelting capacity has outpaced mine supply.
The Metal Economics Research Institute of Japan said the shortage of copper to process has pushed processing fees to the lowest level in almost 40 years. The cost of turning ore into metal $39 a ton and 3.9 cents a pound - is the lowest since 1973.
Jiangxi Copper Co, China's biggest copper producer, said treatment and refining charges have dropped to a level that doesn't cover the costs of smelting in China.
Sumitomo Metal said it plans to produce only 404,000 tons of copper cathode in 2010- 10 percent less than the 450,000 ton capacity at its Toyo smelter, and the company says it's likely to keep output at that reduced rate until at least 2014.
Rio Tinto Limited - at a recent industry conference in London - said that planned copper mining projects will be unable to support demand growth at current rates and we could see the market for mined copper in deficit for most of the next decade.
Rio sees production from probable copper mining projects as only able to support annual demand growth of 3 percent per year by 2020. Rio also said less than half of the world's copper supply, by 2020, will come from low risk regions compared to nearly two thirds in 2000, ore grades will continue to decline and major new copper discoveries are increasingly deep below the surface.
CRU International said copper consumption in China is forecast to rise by 14 percent this year.
Icra said India's copper consumption is forecast to climb 15 percent this year.
The annual per capita consumption of copper in India is 0.47 kg, China's 5.4 kg and the world average is 2.7 kg. China's urbanization plans and forecast GDP growth of 9.6 percent a year is expected to drive Chinese copper consumption from the current 5.4 kg/capita to an astounding 10 kg/capita by the end of the decade.

The Madras High Court has directed the Vedanta Group to close down the Tuticorin-based copper smelter plant for causing environmental pollution. The Madras High Court has also stated that under the Industrial Disputes Act, the employees should be provided with compensation. Moreover, the Madras High Court has also directed the Tuticorin district collector to re-employ the factory workers in the Tuticorin district collector. Last month, the Supreme Court has not given environmental clearance to Vedenta Group's bauxite mining venture in Orissa. Earlier in the past, this plant has witnessed stiff resistance from the people of the state.

Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd, better known as Chalco, has 5 percent to 6 percent of capacity affected due to the power constraint, Vice President Jiang Yinggang said today, without elaborating.
The company, China's largest aluminum producer, may have shut 400,000 tons of output capacity, or 10 percent of the total, said Essence Securities Co.'s Heng Kun and CRU International Ltd.'s Wan Ling on Oct. 22.
China's consumption this year is forecast to reach 15.5 million tons to 16 million tons, growing to 27.4 million tons by 2015, as demand for light metal gains as energy-saving measures become more prevalent amid growing awareness of environmental protection, Chalco's Jiang said.

Aluminum Corporation Of China recorded third quarter net loss of 117.81 million yuan, with loss per share of 0.0087 yuan, according to a company filing. Third quarter operating revenue increased 68.62 percent year-on-year to 28.79 billion yuan while operating cost hit 29.04 billion yuan.
During the first three quarters, the company's net profit hit 412.79 million yuan, while operating revenue rose 96.56 percent year-on-year to 88.57 billion yuan. The company had total assets of 139.91 billion yuan as of end September, up 4.43 percent from the end of 2009.

Talvivaara discovers higher metal deposit

Finnish nickel producer Talvivaara Mining Co Plc has discovered 54 percent more metal in its deposits, lifting its shares after a slow ramp-up of production at the mine. Production in the third quarter of 2010 was outweighed by a 54 percent resource increase to 3.4 million tonnes of contained nickel. At planned capacity of 50,000 tonnes nickel per annum this increases Talvivaara's mine life from 30 years to 53 years. The larger resource may allow the company to later boost annual output to 80,000 tonnes, which would make the mine one the world's three biggest. The news about expanding the size of the deposit comes after the company faced struggles to get the mine to full production. In May, Talvivaara slashed its 2010 output target to between 15,000 and 25,000 tonnes from a previous forecast of 30,000 tonnes.

Hundreds of workers at Chile's giant Collahuasi mine vote on a company wage offer that was dubbed as insufficient by their union that called for strike action at the world's No. 3 copper deposit. The 1,551-member union said the mine owners Xstrata and Anglo American should pay a bigger slice of record profits to workers while the deposit operator says its latest collective contract offer was fair to both sides, reports said. Following is a list of the major mining strikes and protests over nearly a decade in Chile, the world's top copper producer. In June-July 2007, the state run Codelco signed a deal to provide 14,000 subcontracted workers with better bonuses and benefits after a sometimes-violent strike that hit the company's El Teniente, Salvador and Andina mines. Contract workers threatened to spread protests to private companies, but the action did not materialize. In July the same year, a four-day strike by workers at Collahuasi Copper mine lifted world copper prices.
Two years later in October-November 2009, Union workers at BHP Billion's Spence copper mine lifted a 42-day strike that generated output losses of 500 tonnes of copper per day. The mine expects to return to normal output levels in January. In December 2009, Union workers blocked access to Chuquicamata copper mine complex for one day over wage disagreements, halting output and costing state miner Codelco 1,820 tonnes of copper production.

Public sector Hindustan Copper is mulling to reopen another closed copper mine in Jharkhand with estimated coal reserves of about 34 million tonnes, reports said. As part of its plans to ramp up its annual production capacity to 12.5 million tonnes from 3.15 million tonnes in the next 5-7 years, the company has outlined a new growth strategy which includes reopening of closed mines. Hindustan Copper proposes to engage reputed contractors for reopening, operation and expansion of Rakha mine. Post opening the company plans to mine 1.5 million tonnes of copper ore per annum.
The development follows a similar plan of the company to reopen closed Kendadih copper mine in the state. Both the moves towards resuming mining operations come ahead of its 20 percent share sale program slated for December which is expected to raise Rs 4,000 crore. Mining operations in Rakha were suspended in July 2001 after it was waterlogged and the company has invited expression of interest from interested parties, the bids for which would be closed on November 30. The commissioning of the Rakha mines is expected in the next few years while the entire Rs 4500 crore expansion programs to take its production to 12.5 MTPA from 3.15 MTPA is likely to be completed by 2017.
Under the expansion plans, the company will increase the capacity of Malanjkhand mine in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh from 2 MTPA to 5 MTPA and Khetri copper complex in Rajasthan from 1 MTPA to 3 MTPA. The PSU also plans development of new mines besides re-opening of closed mines at Singhbhum copper belt, Ghatsila in Jharkhand to produce 3.7 MTPA copper. It has also invited bids for prospecting of the Baniwali Ki Dhani mine in Sikar district of Rajasthan for which it was recently granted such licence. The company is also eyeing copper assets in countries like Chile and Namibia, Afghanistan, besides forging alliance with another mining PSU Nalco. It filed the draft prospectus for 20 percent share sale, through which the government is selling 10 percent stake while the company would issue fresh equity in the same proportion. At present, 0.41 percent of HCL stake is with the public. The proposed FPO will see the government's stake coming down from 99.59 percent at present to 81.45 percent. Meanwhile, HCL's net profit more than trebled in the second quarter of the current fiscal year at Rs 56.21 crore from Rs 15.10 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. Net sales of the company also rose sharply to Rs 324.41 crore from Rs 247.34 crore in the quarter under consideration.

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has asked Jharkhand government to crack down illegal bauxite mining in the state. These 14 bauxite mines in the state supplying minerals to Vedanta Aluminium Ltd's (VAL) alumina refinery and captive power plant in Orissa which was denied expansion by MoEF. Alleging that 11 out of these 14 mines are operating without prior environmental clearance, the ministry has shot off a letter to the Chief Secretary of Jharkhand, asking for corrective action. Most of the mines in question appear to be operating under the deemed renewal. As per the directions of the Supreme.

Court of India and the clarification issue by the MoEF dated July 2, 2007, all such projects which have been operating without any environmental clearance would obtain environmental clearance at the time of their renewal of their mining lease, said the MoEF letter to the Jharkhand Chief Secretary. In view of the above, it is requested that all the concerned departments may be directed that the project proponent of the concerned mines shall obtain environmental clearance at the time of renewal of mine lease under the provisions of Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification of 2006.

Belgium's Nyrstar, the world's biggest producer of zinc, said that zinc metal production was down 3 percent in the third quarter because of operational issues at its Balen smelter. Production was 256,000 tonnes compared with 265,000 in the same period last year, reports said. Analysts earlier expected production at 268,000 metric tonnes. The group said the average zinc price was higher than last year at $2,030/tonne but had been partially offset by a weaker dollar. Nyrstar said operations at the Coricancha Mine in Peru resumed after being suspended since May 2008, while full production is expected at its Tennessee mines by the end of the year.

Vedanta Aluminium (VAL) has postponed expansion of aluminium operations after the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) rejected a plan to mine the raw material to make the metal, reports said. In August, India denied Vedanta a permit to mine bauxite in the eastern state of Orissa over environmental concerns. Since final clearance was not granted for bauxite mining at Niyamgiri in Orissa, Vedanta has reviewed its expenditure programme. The impact on capex was tentatively estimated at $1.5 million to $2.0 billion over the next two years. The launch of the second phase at the Jharsuguda smelter and a new Korba smelter were being temporarily deferred as well as work on an expansion of its bauxite refinery. In September, the environment ministry said it had found serious violations at Vedanta's refinery that uses bauxite to make alumina, a intermediate product. Vedanta, which is continuing to operate the plant at a production rate of 1 million tonnes per year, had planned to expand the refinery's annual output to 6 million tonnes. The company's production report showed aluminium output in the three months to the end of September, its fiscal second quarter, grew 35 percent to 162,000 tonnes as the Jharsuguda smelter continued to ramp up. Vedanta had wanted to expand Jharsuguda to produce 1.25 million tonnes a year and for Korba to make 325,000 tonnes a year. Alumina production at Lanjigarh fell 10 percent to 171,000 tonnes. The company posted mixed output data in its two most imporant product, iron ore and zinc. Refined zinc production jumped 25 percent to 176,000 tonnes, mainly due to the launch of a new smelter at Rajpura Dariba. Output of saleable iron ore slipped 3 percent to 3.2 million tonnes.

The Supreme Court has stayed the Madras High Court order on Sterlite Industries' copper smelter closure at Tuticorin for violating environmental norms. The company now, heaves a sigh of relief with the hope that the apex court will quash the Madras High Court order and allow to operate smelter smoothly. The Madras High Court had earlier asked the London-listed Vedanta group company to shut down its plant and pay compensation to its workers. It had further directed the Tamil Nadu government to provide reemployment to the workers. A bench headed by Justice RV Raveendran has stayed the high court judgment till October 18. According to Sterlite, its Tuticorin smelter plant had been operating for more than 12 years and had all the requisite approvals from the state Pollution Control Board and other regulatory authorities including the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF). Besides, the high court had passed the impugned order on mere allegations of violations and without any evidence, it said. The high court failed to appreciate that pleadings in all the petitions were only in the nature of apprehensions, assumptions and presumptions and none of the petitions were related to any actual incident of violation as having been committed by the petitioner of the pollution norms.
According to the company, the maintenance of a 25 metre radius from certain ecologically sensitive areas were merely recommendary in nature and were, therefore, capable of being waived upon consideration by the statutory authorities, the Central and the state governments. It stated that no public hearing was required in 1995 when the environment clearance was granted based on the then EIA Notification 1994. The project was cleared by MoEF after examining all aspects and even in the subsequent expansions of 2004 and 2006-07, when public hearing was mandatory, two public hearings were conducted and thereafter environment clearance and consent were granted.
Meanwhile, the Tuticorin unit had expanded its capacity from 900 TPD in 2004-05 to 1200 TPD in 2006-07 after taking necessary approvals. Earlier, the environment ministry had rejected Vedanta's plan to mine bauxite in Orissa over environmental issues.

UC Rusal, the world's top aluminium producer, revised its net interim profit up 7.6 percent to $1.37 billion after an associate firm published its financial information. The company announced its earnings for the six months ended in June partly based on estimated profits of Norilsk Nickel as it was unable to obtain and review the associate firm's interim financial information. It reassessed its earnings after Norilsk Nickel published its interim results on October 7. For the reporting period, the company's earnings per share should be $0.09, rather than $0.08, it said in a filing to the Hong Kong bourse.

Century Aluminum Company reported a net loss of $16.8 million for the third quarter of 2010. Reported third quarter results were negatively impacted by a mark-to-market loss on forward contracts of $12.2 million related to LME price protection options and positively impacted by a $1.4 million tax benefit related to the release of tax reserves no longer required. Cost of sales for the quarter included a $15.8 million charge for the portion of power costs at Hawesville payable by the previous power supplier per the terms of the power agreements and a $7.3 million benefit for lower of cost or market inventory adjustments.
In the third quarter of 2009, the company reported net income of $40.1 million ($0.45 per basic and diluted common share). Financial results were positively impacted by $55.6 million primarily from realized and unrealized gains related to the termination of the existing power contract and its replacement with a new power contract at the Hawesville, Kentucky smelter and a $7.5 million tax benefit related to the release of tax reserves no longer required. Cost of sales for the year-ago quarter includes a $14.4 million non-cash charge for the portion of power costs at Hawesville paid by the previous power supplier per the terms of the Hawesville power agreements and a $2.3 million benefit for lower of cost or market inventory adjustments.
Sales in the third quarter of 2010 were $279.2 million, compared with $228.7 million in the third quarter of 2009. Shipments of primary aluminum for the quarter totaled 147,216 tonnes compared with 146,245 tonnes in the year-ago quarter.
Century Aluminum Company owns primary aluminum capacity in the United States and Iceland. Century's corporate offices are located in Monterey, California.