Rio Tinto Alcan

Rio Tinto Alcan (formerly known as Comalco)

"In October 2007, leading mining organisation Rio Tinto acquired Alcan. Alcan integrated with Rio Tinto's existing aluminium business, resulting in Rio Tinto Alcan."

Bell Bay smelter
Rio Tinto Alcan operates the Bell Bay smelter in northern Tasmania. On its website, Rio Tinto Alcan states that "in aluminium production, electricity is a major raw material. On average it accounts for nearly one third of the total cost of converting alumina to metal. The availability of competitively priced power is the only reason Tasmania was chosen as the site for the aluminium smelter." At Bell Bay the company operates three potlines.

"Like many export-oriented industries, the Bell Bay smelter competes in a highly competitive global market. The price we receive for our metal is not determined by us, it’s the same all over the world as set by the London Metals Exchange. Competitively priced power therefore remains our sole reason for smelting aluminium in Tasmania, as almost all other raw materials are shipped in and virtually all of our product has to be shipped out. The Bell Bay smelter has a long-term take–or-pay-contract for 286MW of electricity – which is about the same amount of energy used by the entire Capital City of Hobart. As Tasmania's major consumer of electricity, the Bell Bay smelter has also helped to underwrite most of Tasmania’s major hydro- electric schemes," the company states.

Management Team
Accessed June 2009:


 * Jacynthe Cote, chief executive officer, Rio Tinto Alcan. The global head office of Rio Tinto Alcan is located in Montreal, Canada.
 * Phillip Strachan, chief financial officer and controller, also responsible for Business improvement, Industrial analysis, IS&T, Business analysis and Communications and external relations.
 * Sandeep Biswas, senior vice president, Business Development and Growth, also responsible for Major Projects and Engineering, Technology and R&D, Climate change and Technical sales.
 * Francois Curie, senior vice president, Human Resources and Health, Safety and Environment (HSE).
 * Rhodri Harries, senior vice president, Commercial, also responsible for Sales and Marketing for Primary Metal, Energy and Procurement.
 * Pierre Chenard, vice president and general counsel, leads Rio Tinto Alcan's legal function.
 * Steve Hodgson, president and chief executive officer, Bauxite and Alumina, with responsibility for bauxite mines, alumina refineries and specialty alumina businesses worldwide. The headquarters of Bauxite and Alumina are located in Brisbane, Australia.
 * Jean-Philippe Puig, president, Primary Metal - Europe, Middle East and Africa.
 * Jean Simon, president, Primary Metal - North America.
 * Xiaoling Liu, president, Primary Metal - Pacific.


 * Dick Evans (Rio Tinto) - chief executive

Contact

 * Web: http://www.riotintoalcan.com

Critiques

 * "War Profiteer of the Month: Rio Tinto Alcan", War Resisters International, December 1, 2007.

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Peter Eaglen - Corporate Manager - Environment
 * Chris Salisbury
 * Nicholas W. Stump
 * Mark R. Rayner
 * Phillip Strachan
 * Grant Thorne
 * Tracy Stevenson