Samskip gets Alcoa contract

Samskip gets Alcoa contract    Alcoa Fjarda'l, a new Icelandic plant for Canada’s Alcoa, one of the world's largest producers of aluminum, has contracted Samskip to handle shipments to Europe over the next five years.
   The planned annual production capacity of Alcoa Fjarda'l is 346,000 tons, of which about 80 percent is expected to go to European customers. Samskip will be responsible for shipments to Rotterdam and for organizing on-carriage to customers throughout Europe.
   Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed but using current aluminum prices and currency exchange rates the annual export value of Alcoa Fjarda'l’s production could reach 60 billion ISK ($997 million), Samskip said.
   The shipping company, which has management offices in Reykjavik and Rotterdam, said the deal would increase its Icelandic export volume by nearly 25 percent.
   “This agreement with Alcoa Fjarda'l will clearly lead to enlargement of our shipping fleet and even increased general shipping capacity when the shipments reach their normal level,” said 'sbj'rn G'slason, Samskip’s president.
   Samskip is aiming to build up its facilities in East Iceland following the agreement, and the company has already been allocated a plot in the operations area of Mj'eyrarh'fn Harbor.