Rio Tinto Canada has indefinitely closed its aluminum ingot-producing Alcan factory in Beauharnois, Quebec, because of sunken demand.
According to media reports, demand declined by 60pc, especially from the automotive industry, and it led to the plant’s weekly output to fall to by400-500mt from its usual 1,150mt. The company also shut down the 450,000mt smelter at this site in 2009 for similar reasons.
Production of small foundry ingots will, however, be offset by the company’s Saguenay plant in the Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec. Reports have suggested that Rio Tinto’s aluminum production in Canada will remain stable at 1.2mn mt despite Alcan’s closure.