Baie-Comeau Smelter
Located on a rocky promontory overlooking the majestic St. Lawrence River, the Baie-Comeau Smelter has been successively owned by the Canadian British Aluminum Company, the Reynolds Metals Company and then finally by Alcoa (since 2000). Built in 1957, it was expanded on four different occasions between 1957 and 1991, in addition to an upgrade of the Söderberg cells in the early 1980s. In March 2008, a new, $1.2 billion upgrade project was announced. This project will involve the replacement of the Söderberg technology by new prebake cells, and the adoption of a more advanced technology for the existing 480 prebake cells. These upgrades will bring the smelter’s production from 437,000 metric tons to 548,000 metric tons.
The smelter is Baie-Comeau’s biggest employer and it contributes over $270 million annually to the regional economy. The plant and its employees are highly involved in the community. Over the years, it has received the Émersionade Award for large industry from the Centre Émersion of Baie-Comeau, and the Equal Opportunity award from Employment and Immigration Canada in recognition of its program to integrate women in non-traditional jobs – a Quebec first at the time. It was also recognized within the St. Lawrence Action Plan for its efforts in regards to industrial wastewater treatment. More recently, the Baie-Comeau Smelter received the Mérite Québecois de la sécurité civile award for it role in establishing an emergency readiness training program for all officials and volunteers in the Manicouagan Regional County Municipality. In addition it received the ICI ON RECYCLE! designation from Recyc-Québec. Baie-Comeau is recognized as one of the most efficient smelters in the Alcoa network.
Start-up: December 1957
Construction cost: $1.65 billion
Production: T-ingots, rolling ingots, billets, rod
Production capacity: 437,000 MT / year
Port facilities: Owned by Alcoa
Certifications: ISO 9001:2000; ISO 14001:2004; and ISO 17025 (pending)
Economic spin-offs for Quebec: $630 million invested in salaries, taxes and goods and services, including $277 million in the Baie-Comeau region
|
|
Aluminum is made of people
 go
|
|
