Alcan to bring Quebec smelter to full capacity by Q2

Mon Feb 6, 2012 10:59am EST

* Rio Tinto Alcan to restart 2 suspended production lines

* Alcan says no labor talks scheduled at Alma smelter

By Chris Kelly

NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto Alcan will restart two suspended lines of production at its 100,000-tonne Shawinigan aluminum smelter in Quebec, Canada that forced the company to declare force majeure earlier this year.

The company, a unit of Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto , will gradually restart the 280 cells that were shut down in the aftermath of a major power outage in late December. The facility will back up and running at full production by the second quarter of 2012.

"We have established a restart plan that secures operations and enables us to fulfil our customers' orders," said Étienne Jacques, chief operating officer of primary metal for North America, in a statement.

There were no updates on Rio Tinto Alcan's largest wholly-owned aluminum smelter, Alma, which has been operating at one-third capacity since early January after contract talks between the company and unionized employees broke down.

A company spokesman said there were no talks scheduled between the two sides.

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