| Alcan, Inc. engages in bauxite mining; alumina refining; specialty alumina producing; aluminum smelting, manufacturing, and recycling; and flexible and specialty packaging. The company operates in four groups: Bauxite and Alumina, Primary Metal, Engineered Products, and Packaging. The Bauxite and Alumina group produces specialty alumina, including products for various applications, such as fire retardant products, refractory bricks, zeolite, alum, plastics, paper, solid surface products, absorbents, and ceramics. The Primary Metal group offers aluminum products, including sheet ingots, extrusion billets, rods, foundry ingots, and remelt ingots for conversion into fabricated products for end-use markets in consumer goods, transportation, construction, and industrial applications. It also produces ferroalloys, silicon, specialty silicon alloys, and recycled magnesium. In addition, the Primary Metal group sells smelter technology; equipment, including cranes and pot equipment for the aluminum industry, as well as cranes for baking furnaces and rodding shop equipment; and engineering services. The Engineering Products group produces rolled, extruded, and cast aluminum products; engineered shaped products and structures, including cable, wire, and rod; soft and hard aluminum alloy extrusions and aluminum rolled products, such as sheet, foil, and plate; and composite materials, such as aluminum-plastic, fiber-reinforced plastic, and foam-plastic. It also offers technical assistance, cutting, shaping, machining, and assembling. The Engineered Products group develops applications for its customers in the automotive, mass transportation, aerospace, marine, and beverage container markets, as well as to the architectural and building construction, electrical, machinery, display, leisure, and wind power industries. The Packaging group manufactures packaging products for the food, meat, dairy, pharmaceutical, beauty and personal care, tobacco, and beverage industries. Its products and services include flexible packaging, caps and closures, contract packaging, folding cartons, glass vials, ampoules and tubing products, medical flexible packaging, plastic bottles, and science products. The company was incorporated in 1902 as Northern Aluminum Company, Limited and changed its name to Aluminum Company of Canada, Limited in 1925. Further, it changed its name to Alcan Aluminium Limited in 1987 and to Alcan, Inc. in 2001. Alcan is headquartered in Montreal, Canada. |
