Alcoa To Permanently Close Suralco Alumina Refinery & Bauxite Mines In Suriname

(RTTNews) - Alcoa Corp. (AA) said that it plans to permanently close the Suralco alumina refinery and bauxite mines in Suriname, fully curtailed since November 2015. The Government of the Republic of Suriname and Alcoa continue to develop definitive agreements concerning Suralco's remaining activities in the country and the future of the bauxite industry in Suriname.

Pending completion of those agreements, Alcoa will continue to operate the Afobaka hydroelectric facility, which supplied power to the Suralco operations.

As a result of the permanent closure of the mines and refinery, Alcoa will record in the 2016 fourth quarter: $90 million in restructuring-related charges, after-tax and noncontrolling interest. Alcoa's share of total cash costs associated with the closure, inclusive of prior accruals, are estimated to be $151 million over five years, with $24 million to be spent in 2017.

Additionally in the 2016 fourth quarter, Alcoa has announced that it will record a: $31 million non-cash charge, after-tax and noncontrolling interest, to impair Alcoa of Australia Limited's (AofA) interests in a Western Australia gas field. AofA determined that the completed exploration activities do not support the current carrying value.

The combined impact of the charges is estimated to be $0.66 per share.

Alcoa also announced that the December 1, 2016 power outage at the Portland Aluminum smelter in Victoria, Australia is not expected to have a significant unfavorable impact on fourth quarter results. The smelter is an unincorporated joint venture between AofA (55 percent), CITIC (22.5 percent), and Marubeni Aluminium Australia (22.5 percent).