Quebec will invest nearly $ 475 million over three years to help the aluminum industry become more efficient and reduce its environmental footprint.
The government unveiled the 2021-2024 Quebec Aluminum Strategy (SQDA) on Tuesday in Saguenay. The Minister of Economy and Innovation, Pierre Fitzgibbon, estimates that the plan will bring total investments of nearly $ 2.5 billion in the industry.
“With our contribution, we want to generate more than one billion investments in the modernization and growth of our primary aluminum production assets and more than $ 400 million in aluminum processing,” he explains. at a press conference in an EPIQ Machinerie factory. We also want to double the value of exports from our equipment manufacturers by 2025. “
We should not expect an increase in production capacity, however, warns the minister in an interview. At the moment, he believes that it is better to stimulate technological investments “to make more volume with the same equipment”.
“We won’t see a lot of new capacity,” he predicts. We saw it with the Chinese who reduced their production, which meant that it increased the price of commodities. “
The government also wants to encourage processing activities in Quebec and exports. “The more we convert aluminum in Quebec, the more we will create wealth for society. “
Minister Fitzgibbon would also like more aluminum to be consumed in Quebec. ” Why not ? We are already promoting wood from here. Aluminum made here, it might be interesting if we could better value it with greater use. “
The government strategy responds to industry demands, says Éloϊse Harvey, CEO of EPIQ Machinerie. She recalled that the aluminum equipment manufacturers had produced a brief comprising six recommendations to support the development of the industry. All of her recommendations have been taken into account, she says. “We were heard. “
The announcement was also well received by the Unifor union, which represents workers at several RioTinto Alcan facilities as well as at several of the aluminum giant’s subcontractors. “This is good news especially for the second and third processing, which we asked for during the consultations. We can see that the government has taken the region’s consensus into account, and we should be happy about it, ”commented the Quebec director of Unifor, Renaud Gagné, in a press release.
Sylvain Gaudreault, Member of Parliament for Jonquière, says he is disappointed with the lack of commitment to his region. “It’s good news, but it’s a national strategy. This is not an announcement specifically for Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean, ”laments the elected Parti Québécois.
He is worried about the fate of workers at Rio Tinto’s Arvida plant in Saguenay. The plant, which has outdated facilities, is expected to continue operating until 2025, but the fate of workers beyond that date remains uncertain.
Rio Tinto is to announce “a significant investment” in its Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean facilities on Wednesday. Mr. Gaudreault hopes the company will unveil its plans for the future of workers at the Arvida plant.
“2025 is soon. Rio Tinto will have to make announcements to compensate for this production with another production in order to be able to bridge the gap for the workers. “
Greener aluminum
An important axis of the government strategy is to encourage the reduction of the carbon footprint of aluminum smelters, thanks to hydropower and investments in technology.
The Quebec aluminum industry has the particularity of being less polluting than elsewhere, but it remains a major emitter of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the province.
In 2018, aluminum production was the industrial process that emitted the most greenhouse gases in the province at 4.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to the most recent Quebec Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. Greenhouse.
Thanks to hydropower, the industry still has a lower carbon footprint than international competitors. In Quebec, the production of one tonne of aluminum emits the equivalent of two tonnes of GHGs. In Europe, this ratio is 16 tons while it is 30 tons in China.
Mr. Fitzgibbon admits that the term “green” is sometimes overused, but he points out that a lot of efforts are made by the main players in the industry in Quebec to reduce its environmental footprint.
The ELYSIS industrial research and development center is trying to develop carbon-free aluminum. The joint venture jointly owned by Alcoa and Rio Tinto announced earlier this month that it had succeeded in reaching an industrial production threshold. She hopes her technology will be available for commercialization in 2024.
“I am very enthusiastic about the idea that if this technology is deployed commercially, it will allow Quebec to be probably the first that will really make green aluminum, which will be carbon neutral,” said the Minister.