Alcoa announces planned restart, new labour contract for Aluminerie de Bécancour smelter in Québec

Alcoa Corporation, a global leader in bauxite, alumina, and aluminium products, announced that the Aluminerie de Bécancour Inc. (ABI) smelter plans to restart curtailed smelting capacity after members of the United Steelworkers union in Québec, Canada today approved a six-year labour agreement. The smelter, owned by Alcoa (74.95%) and Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. (25.05%), has total annual capacity of 413,000 metric tons per year. The restart will begin on July 26, 2019 and is expected to be complete in the second quarter of 2020. Salaried employees had operated one of three potlines during the lockout, until Alcoa announced an additional…