Alcan says safety is key concern in Guinea strike

MONTREAL - Alcan Inc. said on Monday that worker safety, not bauxite output, is its first concern in a general strike in Guinea that could halt the West African country's production of the ore used to make aluminum.

Alcan, the world's second-largest maker of primary aluminum, said a halt in bauxite output in Guinea would not likely have a major material impact on the company's global aluminum smelting operations.

"There could be some minor disruption in our supply chain, but I don't see that cascading down to be a major interruption in terms of smelters or anything of that nature," Dick Evans, president and chief executive of Alcan, told reporters.

Clashes between police and stone-throwing protesters escalated in Guinea on Monday in the midst of a general strike called by unions trying to oust the country's president.

Union leaders threatened to halt Guinea's bauxite industry, which is the world's single-biggest exporter of the ore from which aluminum is extracted.

Alcan, the world's second-largest maker of primary aluminum, has bauxite operations in Guinea through its Halco venture with Alcoa Inc. and privately-owned Dadco. Halco owns 51 percent of the national Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee (CBG), while Guinea's government owns the rest.

Evans said the Canadian company's first concern is the safety of about 3,000 workers employed through the joint venture in Guinea.

He said bauxite can be stored for later use in the aluminum production chain.