Wagerup, south of perth

Hi guys anyone won here. It looks like the local economy is in for a boast accourding to The Australian 150 new jobs and up to 3000 indirectly according to the story, i’m sure not all these jobs will be in wagerup but what effect will this have on housing and in particular renatl and prices. Sorry if you were already on to this and now i’ve told the world.[angry2]

regards westan

Alcoa’s $1.5bn plan for Wagerup
By Nigel Wilson
May 07, 2004
ONE of the world’s largest alumina smelters will emerge from a proposed $1.5 billion expansion of the Wagerup refinery in Western Australia.

The expansion, involving a third production train, would take Wagerup’s annual output from around 2.3 million tonnes to between 4.2 million and 4.5 million tonnes.

Alumina Limited and Alcoa of Australia, which combined form the Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals alliance, said yesterday they were undertaking comprehensive public consultations about a third production unit at Wagerup, south of Perth.

The announcement came only a day after BHP Billiton disclosed approval had been given for a $US192 million ($263 million) program to expand the Worsley refinery, also south of Perth, by 250,000 tonnes a year to an annual capacity of 3.5 million tonnes by the second quarter of 2006.

Both expansions are driven by rapidly rising Chinese demand for alumina and aluminium.

AWAC said any Wagerup expansion would meet world-class health guidelines and address community expectations on health and the environment.

The Wagerup refinery in recent years has been subject to community, government and media scrutiny on emissions, particularly odour, even though the international alumina giant says its emission levels are well within national and international guidelines.

AWAC managing director Wayne Osborn said: “We will be conducting detailed health risk and environmental assessments to ensure the plant maintains its superior, world-class environmental performance.”

He added the expansion would be an opportunity to create more jobs, growth and business opportunities with about 150 permanent new Alcoa jobs and about 3000 direct and indirect jobs.

AWAC said the expansion would increase export revenues to about $17 billion over the life of the project.

Adding a third production unit to the Wagerup refinery is one of several options Alcoa is looking at worldwide to meet a predicted increase in world alumina demand towards the end of 2007. The company is currently spending $440 million on measures to lift the capacity of its Pinjara refinery by 600,000 tonnes a year to a nominal capacity of around 4.1 million tonnes.

Earlier this year Mr Osborn told an alumina and aluminium summit in Sydney that China was pivotal to the market for both alumina and aluminium.

Western Australia’s State Development minister, Clive Brown, said the proposed Wagerup expansion would have massive economic benefits for WA, adding more than $550 million a year in export earnings and boosting government royalties by $10 million a year.

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