Aluminum Island Offers Cheap Power Oasis Amid Commodities Tumble
An aluminum smelting plant on the Hvalfordur fjord in Iceland.
Photographer: Tom Bell/Portland Press Herald/Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
Iceland’s aluminum smelters are doing just fine even as the deepest market plunge in about seven years pressures production across the world.
That’s because most of them tap cheap power from the north Atlantic island’s vast stores of geothermal and hydro-power in contracts that are linked to the price of the metal. The island’s three smelters, run by Rio Tinto, Century Aluminum and Alcoa, last year contributed 38 percent of the $15.6 billion economy’s total exports.