Kaiser To Wait Before Resuming Full Production At Nw Smelters Company Won’t Boost Output Until Aluminum Surplus Shrinks

Kaiser Aluminum Corp. will be profitable in 1995, but Pacific Northwest smelters will not return to full production until the surplus of aluminum on the world market shrinks.

Those were the messages George T. Haymaker, the company’s chairman and chief executive officer, delivered Wednesday at Kaiser’s annual meeting in Houston.

Also at the annual meeting, Robert J. Petris - the retiring director of District 38 of the United Steelworkers of America, and a controversial figure in this year’s strike by the Steelworkers against Kaiser - was elected to the Kaiser board of directors.

In the first quarter of 1995, Kaiser reported its first profitable quarter since 1992. Haymaker said the company will build on that strong start the rest of the year.

That optimism is based in part on a better balance between supply and demand on the world market, which last year was saturated with aluminum from the former Soviet Union.

“We have taken a number of steps to improve our market position and the efficiency and productivity of our operations,” Haymaker said.

“As a result, we expect that the profitable momentum established in the first quarter of 1995 will increase through the year.”

While the company has restarted half a potline at its Tacoma smelter to try and make up for productivity lost during the February strike, Haymaker said further reinstatement of capacity at Tacoma or the company’s Mead smelter must wait.

“Industry conditions certainly are much better than a year ago, but we intend to wait for the surplus inventories … to decline before restarting additional capacity,” Haymaker said.

Kaiser is now operating its smelting facilities at about 77 percent of capacity.

Petris, who has been a member of the International Union Executive Board of the United Steelworkers of America, was elected to replace Paul D. Rusen, who did not stand for reelection to the Kaiser board.

Rusen was a Steelworkers’ representative on the board, which has included labor representation for the past 10 years.

As executive director of the Steelworkers district covering the Pacific Northwest, Petris was a lead negotiator in the Steelworkers talks with Kaiser that led to the February strike.

Petris recommended passage of the original contract to the union locals, and was critical of the union leadership at Mead for leading the charge to reject that contract. Mead union officials in turn were critical of Petris’s stand on the contract.

Kaiser is one of the world’s leading producers of alumina, primary aluminum and fabricated aluminum products.