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IMCO Recycling Begins Operation of Major Aluminum Alloys Facility

16 January 2001

IMCO Recycling Begins Operation of Major Aluminum Alloys Facility

    IRVING, Texas, Jan. 16 IMCO Recycling Inc.
today announced that it has started operating a new facility in Saginaw
County, Michigan that will help meet General Motors Corporation's increasing
demand for specification aluminum alloys.
    All of the output of the $16.5 million plant is being provided to General
Motors under the terms of a contract signed in 1999 that calls for the supply
of almost two billion pounds of aluminum alloys over a 13-year period.
    The new facility is owned and operated by Alchem Aluminum, Inc., a wholly
owned subsidiary of IMCO Recycling Inc.  Alchem has provided aluminum alloys
to auto and light truck producers and their suppliers for three decades.  It
has two other production facilities located in Coldwater, Michigan and
Shelbyville, Tennessee.
    The Saginaw County facility has a rated annual capacity of 160 million
pounds and is expected to have a total of 30 employees by June of 2001.  It is
designed to easily accommodate expansions of capacity that may be needed to
meet General Motors' requirements.
    Don V. Ingram, IMCO Recycling's chairman and chief executive officer, said
initial operation of the new plant "is a major step forward in our strategy to
increase the company's participation in the transportation sector, the largest
and fastest-growing aluminum market."
    Production from the Alchem facility is being delivered in molten form by
customized trucks to General Motors' Saginaw, Michigan metal casting operation
which is now using aluminum in addition to gray iron to manufacture engine
components.  Delivery in molten form lowers manufacturers' energy, labor,
maintenance and capital expenses as well as melt loss, thus adding to their
productivity.
    Over the past decade, the use of aluminum in all vehicles has doubled and
has tripled in sport utility vehicles, pick-up trucks and minivans.  The
average amount of aluminum used per vehicle in 2000 was 257 pounds.  This
average is expected to rise to 350 pounds or more by 2005.
    Aluminum is replacing traditional materials in vehicles because the
metal's light weight and high strength allow manufacturers to maintain the
size and crashworthiness of autos and trucks while lowering fuel usage and
emissions.  About 65 percent of the aluminum in today's vehicles is recycled
metal and 90 percent of all aluminum used in vehicles is recovered, recycled
and used in new autos and trucks.
    IMCO Recycling Inc. is the world's largest recycler of both aluminum and
zinc.  The company has 22 U.S. production facilities and owns an aluminum
recycling plant in Swansea, Wales as well as 50 percent of a joint venture
that operates two recycling and foundry alloy plants in Germany.  IMCO
Recycling's headquarters office is in Irving, Texas.