Latest news with #SeptÎles
CTV News
2 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Major Quebec aluminum smelter announces $1.5B investment with new electricity deal
Aluminerie Alouette will invest at least $1.5 billion in its facilities in Sept-Îles over the next 20 years. An archive photo of the Aluminerie Alouette plant on Tuesday, May 21, 2019, in Sept-Îles. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jacques Boissinot SEPT-ÎLES — The company operating a major Quebec aluminum smelter says it will invest at least $1.5 billion in its North Shore facilities over the next 20 years. Representatives of Aluminerie Alouette say the announcement is tied to an agreement in principle with the province's hydro utility on electricity rates until Dec. 31, 2045. At a news conference in Sept-Îles, Que., the company said it has committed to investing $750 million by 2030, for a total of at least $1.5 billion by 2045. Quebec Premier François Legault told the news conference the electricity deal is a positive sign for an industry that has been hit by 50 per cent tariffs on imports to the U.S. The government says the agreement allows Hydro-Québec to share in the profits when aluminum prices are high, and permits the company to stay competitive when market prices for the metal drop. The smelter employs approximately 950 people and has an annual production capacity of 630,000 tons of aluminum, representing 20 per cent of the aluminum produced in the province. Multinational Rio Tinto is the main shareholder with a 40 per cent stake in the company. --- This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2025.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Major Quebec aluminum smelter announces $1.5B investment with new electricity deal
SEPT-ÎLES — The company operating a major Quebec aluminum smelter says it will invest at least $1.5 billion in its North Shore facilities over the next 20 years. Representatives of Aluminerie Alouette say the announcement is tied to an agreement in principle with the province's hydro utility on electricity rates until Dec. 31, 2045. At a news conference in Sept-Îles, Que., the company said it has committed to investing $750 million by 2030, for a total of at least $1.5 billion by 2045. Quebec Premier François Legault told the news conference the electricity deal is a positive sign for an industry that has been hit by 50 per cent tariffs on imports to the U.S. The government says the agreement allows Hydro-Québec to share in the profits when aluminum prices are high, and permits the company to stay competitive when market prices for the metal drop. The smelter employs approximately 950 people and has an annual production capacity of 630,000 tons of aluminum, representing 20 per cent of the aluminum produced in the province. Multinational Rio Tinto is the main shareholder with a 40 per cent stake in the company. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 4, 2025. The Canadian Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
National Post
20-05-2025
- Business
- National Post
Do Quebecers support pipelines now? Their politicians can't agree
OTTAWA — Albertans may want to see more pipelines across the country, but Quebec politicians are still arguing about whether their constituents will welcome them. Article content Article content 'Where are the projects that are profitable for Quebec? If there were any, we would have known about it a long time ago. This is not the case currently,' said Parti Québécois MNA Pascal Paradis at a press conference Tuesday. Article content Article content Premier François Legault's comments last week in an hour-long podcast interview with host Stephan Bureau are still resonating in the National Assembly and in Alberta. Article content Article content 'Quebecers are saying, 'There's no way Trump is going to control the oil we produce in Alberta.' So, can we export it to Europe through Quebec instead of being stuck with Trump? There's openness. I feel things are shifting,' Legault said. But he also suggested that a potential project could pass through the northern part of the province and end at the port of Sept-Îles. Article content 'There are projects like that which would have been unthinkable before Trump,' Legault said. Some Quebec politicians don't agree. Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-François Blanchet said that 'we could discuss at length what constitutes openness among Quebecers or not.' Paradis argued that 'there's one poll showing a certain openness, but to what? ' Article content Making matters even more contentious, only a few public polls have been conducted on this question. The most frequently cited one dates back to February, during the tariff war with the United States. Article content Article content At the time, a SOM-La Presse poll suggested that 59 per cent of Quebecers would be in favour of a new Energy East project. Article content Another one by Nanos Research, conducted in April, found that nearly half of Quebecers said they somewhat or strongly supported the idea of a trans-Canada pipeline, the lowest rate in Canada. Article content Legault later told reporters that 'we're a long way from a concrete project' and that any potential environmental assessments would not be skipped. Article content 'We remember there have been past projects that crossed several rivers. We need to look at the impacts and then look at the benefits. What's positive in each of the projects, if any concrete ones are put forward,' Legault said. Article content While the Parti Québécois is asking 'what's in it for us' and 'what are the proposed projects on the table' — so far, there aren't any — the leftist separatist party Quebec Solidaire attacked the premier for making the mistake of 'thinking that pipelines are the solution to the Trump tariff crisis.'
