Major Metals Momentum

From its headquarters in Montréal, Alcan has been a longstanding corporate presence in Québec. While there has been some saturation of aluminum markets, that firm and others continue to thrive in the province.
        One aid is the Valley of Aluminum tax credit for aluminum production or processing companies in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, a 40-percent break similar to the Optics City program in Québec City.
        In fact, that very region may be home to a $31-million joint venture wheel factory operated by Alcan and Michigan-based manufacturer Amcast. Feasibility studies carried out earlier in 2002 indicated that 300 workers would be employed there. Feedstock would come from Alcan's Saguenay smelter, and possible financial involvement might come from SGF.
        But Alcan has other, bigger projects in mind too. Its new $1.24-billion smelter in the northern town of Alma is already slated for further expansion, and its purchase of a 20-percent share of the Alouette smelter in the Sept-Iles area of Québec City has been crucial in driving forward a planned $800-million expansion there that would more than double the plant's 243,000-ton annual capacity and add 500 more jobs. The province has even offered the project a 500-megawatt block of specially priced electricity from Hydro-Québec, provided the expansion includes plans for processing facilities.
        Bechtel has been present in the Canadian market since 1949, but in June, the company announced a plan that includes the creation, with BPR, of a joint company, the relocation of Bechtel's North American mining and metals headquarters from Denver to Montréal and establishment of Bechtel's global Aluminum Center of Excellence in Montréal.
        Paul Lafleur, president and CEO of BPR, says he expects employment to grow from 350 to 1,000 over the next few years, and not just in Montréal.
        "Montréal has a deep pool of talented professional workers, and it offers them a quality of life second to none" adds Riley Bechtel, chairman and CEO of Bechtel Group, who also expects an employment boost, from 150 to 700 in Montréal alone. "Business costs are competitive and the economy is growing. Québec is a world center for aluminum production and metal manufacturing. And Montréal's international focus offers the potential for export business that can benefit the local engineering firms, suppliers, and manufacturers who work with us."