Vimetco and Alro evaluate further Production Cuts in Romania

Due to the decreasing aluminium price, which has dropped by more than 50% since mid July 2008, Vimetco has recommended at this weeks board meeting further cuts in aluminium production at Alro SA, as well as a further cut in headcount in Romania as part of an overall analysis of Vimetco's global operations. Final decisions will be taken at next week's board meeting of Alro SA which is due to take place at the beginning of next week. The production cuts which were discussed could go up to 50% of Alro's capacity. Headcount will most likely be reduced by an additional 1,200 employees in 2009.

Alro will be actively looking to reduce costs also for other raw materials and input factors such as alumina, coke, pitch, and other materials and services.

Alro and Vimetco will be respecting all the legal requirements and provisions relevant in such circumstances.

Mr Christian Wüst, President of Alro SA, commented:

"Over recent months we have seen the price of aluminium decrease as the global economy headed into recession. We were one of the first companies to proactively react to this deteriorating market back in October by announcing first production cuts in China. The current aluminium price level has forced us to evaluate further cuts in Romania in order to maintain our competitive edge and to preserve the cash levels of the group and the local entities."