Profits during the year and value for the community

 

 

Norðurál’s output in 2021 amounted to 315,182 tons, which is an increase of 2,500 tons compared to the previous year. About 60,000 tons of the company’s output is in the form of value-added product or alloy. With increased efficiency at present, Norðurál has increased its annual output from 270,000 tons of aluminum in 2010 to 315,000 tons in 2021. Profits in 2021 amounted to ISK 10,088 million.

 

Market conditions took a great turn for the better in 2021. Market prices for aluminum were low in 2020, down to USD 1,457 per ton in April, but increased in the latter part of the year so that the average price in 2020 was USD 1,702. The increase continued in 2021, with the average price of aluminum being USD 2,480 per ton during the year.

 

Norðurál’s export value amounted to ISK 100.5 billion (USD 791 million) in 2021. Out of this income, payments to Icelandic entities amounted to ISK 44.4 billion in the form of public levies, salary payments, and procurement from domestic suppliers and service providers. Salary payments together with payroll expenses amounted to ISK 7.4 billion, and the average annual salary of employees was ISK 9.7 million.

 

Norðurál benefits the community in various ways. The company’s tax footprint in 2021 amounted to ISK 5.9 billion. Norðurál has a great positive impact on the Icelandic economy, thanks to the company’s foreign currency revenues, procurement of Icelandic products and services, payments of taxes and public levies, creation of numerous well-paid jobs, and wide-ranging support of the West Iceland community.

In 1997, the Icelandic government and Norðurál signed an agreement on investment with an effective term until October 31, 2018. In 2016, Norðurál used the contractual provision on changes to tax arrangements so that as of 2017, the company gave up its previous tax privileges and has been subject to general Icelandic tax laws since then.

 

The investment agreement is available on the Ministry of Industries and Innovation’s website.

 

Norðurál’s tax footprint

 

The economic value of Norðurál’s activities amounted to more than ISK 106 billion in 2021 and consisted of sales revenues, capital gains, and profits from asset sales. Thereof, ISK 44 billion was allocated to Icelandic parties in various ways, including salary payments to staff, salary-related expenses, purchase of electrical power, purchases of resources and services, and taxes and other public levies.

 

Norðurál’s tax footprint extends to all taxes and levies that the company pays or collects in Iceland, as well as reciprocal contributions to pension funds of company staff. ollected taxes are not considered costs by the company, but they originate in the company’s activities and have an effect due to the administration that they entail. The economic contribution (value) of the company’s operation in 2021 amounted to ISK 106.2 billion and consists of sales revenues, capital gains, and profits from asset sales.

The ETS system

 

Greenhouse gas emissions directly linked to the production process of Norðurál fall under the scope of EU’s emission trading system (ETS). Its aim is to reduce emissions from the production processes of major industrial concerns in Europe, where companies must purchase emissions allowances. The trading system therefore functions as an economic incentive for industrial concerns to reduce emissions. In 2021, Norðurál purchased 95,321 tons of allowances for ISK 693 million.

 

Green financing for a new production line

 

In November, a contract was signed with Arion Bank for the green financing of a new production line in Norðurál’s casthouse at Grundartangi. This is an investment project amounting to approx. USD 120 million, or close to ISK 16 billion.

 

The project allows Norðurál to produce more valuable products in Iceland with less energy consumption and a smaller carbon footprint. Significant energy is saved in the molding process, or approximately 40%. Arion Bank recently issued its first Green Financing Framework, which applies to the Bank’s funding and lending activities. The framework includes the conditions that loans must meet in order to be considered green. The framework is based on the International Capital Market Association’s (ICMA) criteria, the EU’s classification scheme, and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research (CICERO) in Norway consulted on the framework.

 

Business integrity

 

Norðurál’s parent company, Century Aluminum, and all its subsidiaries have made a commitment to ethical conduct and lawful business practices worldwide. US and international laws and regulations prohibit corrupt practices and transactions, such as misleading or fraudulent accounting and reporting.

 

Detailed policy documents establish standards and protocols to ensure the satisfaction of legal and social requirements for the ethical conduct of an honest and reputable company.

 

Code of Ethics

 

Century Aluminum Company, parent company of Norðurál, and all its subsidiaries commit to the strict application and satisfaction of stringent requirements for honesty, integrity, and propriety in all its operations, transactions, and conduct. All members of management are signatories to the company Code of Ethics and committed to maintaining the company’s high standards of honesty and integrity.

 

No employee may promise, give, or accept payments in cash or other valuables, whether personally or through an intermediary, to parties public or private, or to a spouse, partner, or child or other relative of such a party, for the purpose of influencing or rewarding the actions or decision-making of such parties, or to gain an unnatural advantage. Likewise, company employees and their immediate family members may not demand, accept, or receive compensation in any form, directly or through a third party, beyond the proper and honest practice of business transactions.