Alcoa CEO on Aluminum Plans for Brazil, China and Russia (AA 3Q05 Conf Call Quotes)

Alcoa (ticker: AA) Chairman and CEO Alain Belda had the following to say during management's Q3 2005 earnings results conference call:

I met with the President Da Silva….in Brazil, to review our plans for a bauxite mine in Juruti in the Amazon, which we believe is one of the best such opportunities globally. We have strong support of (indiscernible) government for these projects and continue to consult with them about projects to enhance our energy position there.

We're quickly integrating our Russia and China investments. The official takeover of Bohai on Wednesday -- we do have 20% of China foil markets at 70,000 metric tons, including Shanghai. We will be adding a hot mill, and meanwhile we will be shipping from the U.S., from Europe, from Australia and Russia to China, setting up our market position there.

I have been to our new facilities a number of times in Russia, and I'm impressed with how much progress we have made in a short period of time. We expect these facilities will break even in the latest part of 2006. We expect to be qualified as a major airframe manufacture in the first half of next year, and we will be qualified with specific North American auto suppliers by the end of this year.

(Quotes are from the CCBN StreetEvents transcript.)

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