---

Aluminum Industry Announces New Detroit Office

9 September 1999

Aluminum Industry Announces New Detroit Office & Strategic Global Cooperation Actions Strengthen Aluminum's Support of Automotive Customers

    DEARBORN, Mich., Sept. 9 -- To build upon the growing
partnerships between the automotive and aluminum industries, The Aluminum
Association today announced plans to open a Detroit-based office and create a
global cooperation of nine national trade associations on automotive aluminum.
These two moves are seen as important steps by the aluminum industry to better
respond to automotive customer expectations and to more closely serve their
needs, both domestically and internationally.
    Expected to open in the fourth quarter of 1999, The Aluminum Association's
new office will serve as a resource for customers, members and other auto
suppliers to coordinate pre-competitive research, marketing initiatives and
related projects.
    Speaking at The Aluminum Association's annual meeting in Dearborn, Richard
B. Evans, President of Alcan Global Fabrication Group and Chairman of the
Board of the Association noted, "Our new Detroit presence will provide a
singular focus for the aluminum industry to better serve the needs of our
customers in the auto industry.  By opening this office in the heart of Motor
City, the aluminum industry is literally and figuratively taking a giant step
closer to its automotive customer base."  He added, "Aluminum companies  --
both collectively and individually -- intend to increase partnerships with
auto manufacturers as they reinvent the motor vehicle for the 21st Century."
    The office announcement comes just three months after formation of the
Auto-Aluminum Alliance, in which both industries are now identifying and
pursuing ways to further accelerate the use of aluminum in mass-produced
vehicles. The new office will be lead by a soon-to-be named Association Vice
President -- an experienced senior executive with a solid background in the
auto industry.   The goal of the office will be to promote pre-competitive
research programs and actions that will lead to mass-produced, aluminum
intensive vehicles in the near future.  The office will also serve as a
central resource for auto companies on aluminum questions and it will
coordinate joint auto/aluminum industry research projects now underway with
the Auto Aluminum Alliance.
    In a related effort, Evans also announced a new strategic cooperative
agreement among the world's aluminum companies, represented through their nine
national trade associations, on issues related to the automotive application
of aluminum.
    According to Evans, "Today's automakers have global operations and are
seeking to harmonize differing government standards to improve their economies
of scale.  This new international aluminum cooperative agreement recognizes
the need for international solutions and is designed to parallel the
structures of the car companies in addressing these challenges on a global
basis."
    Initially, the collaboration will set up mechanisms to more closely share
information on automotive applications, issues and research on an ongoing
basis.  Once clear lines of communications are established, it is expected the
international cooperation will work on joint research and marketing projects
designed to meet the needs of automotive customers around the world.
    Steve Larkin, President of The Aluminum Association concluded, "Auto
Aluminum use continues to skyrocket as more and more manufacturers take
advantage of its inherent environmental, safety, and performance advantages.
By opening a Detroit office, and by better coordinating global aluminum-
related activities, the aluminum industry will be better positioned to help
automakers build next-generation vehicles that are affordable, safe and
exciting to drive."
    Members of the aluminum industry's new global cooperative agreement will
combine the resources and initiatives of The Aluminum Association Inc. (AAI),
Washington, D.C.; the International Primary Aluminium Institute (IPAI),
London; the European Aluminium Association (EAA), Brussels; the Australian
Aluminium Council, Manuka; the Aluminium Association of India, Bangalore; the
Associacao Brasileira Do Aluminio (ABAL), Sao Paulo; the Japan Aluminium
Federation (JAF), Tokyo; the Aluminium Association of Canada, Montreal; and
the Aluminium Federation of South Africa (AFSA), Isando (For more information
on this Global Cooperation, see related release, also dated, September 9,
1999).
    The Aluminum Association, based in Washington, DC, represents U.S.
producers of primary and secondary aluminum, as well as fabricated and semi-
fabricated products.  Member companies operate approximately 200 plants in 35
states.