Signing of agreements on construction of the Fjarðaál sf. aluminum smelter in Reydarfjordur
PITTSBURGH and REYKJAVIK, March 14, 2003
Tomorrow, Saturday, 15 March, agreements will be signed on the construction of Alcoa's 322,000-ton aluminum smelter in Reydarfjordur. The ceremony will be held at 14:00 in the Reydarfjordur gymnasium. Signing of the agreements will mark the beginning of projects that will have an extremely positive effect on the economy of the nation. Those signing the agreements are: Minister of Industry and Commerce Valgerdur Sverrisdottir (Progressive Party), Minister of Finance Geir H. Haarde (Independence Party), Alain J.P. Belda, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Alcoa, Michael Baltzell, chairman of the Alcoa negotiating committee, Johannes Geir Sigurgeirsson, Chairman of the Board of the National Power Company, Fridrik Sophusson, President of the National Power Company and Gudmundur Bjarnason, Mayor of Fjardabyggd.
Altogether 750 new jobs will be created in East Iceland with the advent of the aluminum smelter, 450 of which will be in the aluminum smelter and about 300 in related industry, service and commerce. These new jobs will strengthen the economy of East Iceland, which in previous years has suffered a decrease in the number of jobs in parallel with changes in fisheries and agriculture. The construction and operation of the aluminum smelter will turn around the negative settlement trend in East Iceland.
The planned construction cost of the aluminum smelter is about ISK 84 billion, and the construction cost of the Karahnjukar Power Station is about ISK 95 billion. A total of 6300 man-years will be created during the construction, 2300 of which will be for the construction of the aluminum smelter, and about 4000 for the construction of the Karahnjukar Power Station. The construction of the Karahnjukar Power Station has already begun, and construction of the aluminum smelter will begin in the fall of 2004. The aluminum smelter will begin production in the first part of 2007.
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