CANBERRA: Alcoa’s Australian partner Alumina Ltd plans to keep its three West Australian refineries open as it looks for $150 million in cost savings amid worldwide refinery closures.
Alumina Ltd posted a $US88.3 million ($A122.53 million) full-year net profit after paying for a range of restructuring costs related to shutting down capacity in its Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals (AWAC) joint venture with metals giant Alcoa. US-based Alcoa has been reviewing its global smelting and refining capacity since March 2015 as it looks to cut costs.
Alumina hopes to save about $US12 million in labour costs at its West Australian operations but chief executive Peter Wasow was unable to say how many jobs could be lost. “I can’t give you any indication of how that’s going to play out at any particular refinery,” Mr Wasow told AAP.
