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There are shared fundamentals for aluminum industry in China and Greenland. Even though China is far from Greenland and society differs in many ways there are common traits with the aluminum smelter project in Maniitsoq. Minister Ove Karl Berthelsen visited China Power Investment’s (CPI) new Xinye smelter in the western Chinese province of Qinghai in November 2011. This province has historically had agriculture as the primary industry. The precondition for the project here has been the availability of energy and the wish to develop society.

What are the framework conditions for a Greenlandic aluminium project?Read the new information on the website about the aluminium industry's framework conditions. The framework conditions determine, among other things, the project's construction and operating costs. It includes energy and labour as some of the major costs. The conditions for a given project are largely determined by the geographical location of the project. Whether Greenland is able to compete in a global context is determined by the framework conditions that Greenland gives to the industry.

To present a view into the global context of the Greenlandic aluminum project, we will in the following two weeks publish a short series of stories on the aluminum industry.The stories will aim at providing relevant background information and the future prospects of the aluminum industry and consequently the aluminum project in Greenland.The first week we will publish a story that puts focus on the consumption of aluminum. What is the consumption now and how will it develop in the future.

"Alcoa persists to be positive about the continuation of work on project studies in collaboration with Greenland's Government," said the Alcoa’s Icelandic contact person for the Greenland aluminium project, Kristjan Halldorsson, at a seminar on the aluminium project in September 2011.Kristjan Halldorsson is Alcoa's Community Relations Manager for North Iceland and he has been associated with the aluminium project in Maniitsoq since 2009. During the public meeting in Maniitsoq, Kristjan Halldorsson also said:

The purpose of the new home page is to make it easier and more appealing to search for information about the aluminum project. Since the beginning of the project in 2006 many assessments and reports have been made. The task of realizing the project is ongoing. www.aluminium.glhas the aim of gathering and conveying the knowledge and activities that have been built up around the project throughout the years and also giving the opportunity to search for information about the current status of the project.

At the beginning of June, 16 students from class 9.a from Atuarfik Kilaaseraq in Maniitsoq, along with their teacher Vilhelm Josefsen and parent representative Søren Lyberth went on a study trip to East Iceland. During the study trip, 9.a visited among other places Alcoa's Fjardaál aluminium smelter at Reydarfjördur and Karahnjukar hydroelectric station, which is owned by the Icelandic energy company Landsvirkjun. Vilhelm Josefsen says that after returning to Maniitsoq they jointly evaluated the benefits of the study trip.