Saving Iceland

Iceland Review – Small communities in rural Iceland have neither been affected by the current economic crisis nor were they included in the period of expansion before the crisis arrived. Many of these communities have plenty of jobs available. Read More

Iceland Review – Human capital and production based on ingenuity is the way out of the crisis—not heavy industry, factory jobs and the destruction of nature in Iceland, said Ómar Ragnarsson after accepting the Seacology environmental prize. Read More

Alcoa, one of the world’s largest aluminum producers, has reported a 52-percent drop in third quarter profits and said it would conserve cash by suspending its stock buyback program and all non-critical capital projects. Alcoa, the first component of the Dow Jones industrial average to report earnings, said results were hurt by sharply lower aluminum prices, weaker demand and a charge from curtailing production at a Texas smelter. The company reported earnings of $268 million, or 33 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30. That compared with $555 million, or 63 cents per share, during the same period last year.

Alcoa has laid off 300 workers in it’s Rockdale smelting facilities in Texas after idling some of the facility. Another 100 contract workers will be affected. The aluminium giant says this is necessary due to unreliable power supply from the energy supplier that is contracted for the smelter, Luminant. That company claims Alcoa is using them as an excuse to fire workers to drive up profitability. Read More

For the international action week in solidarity with the activists fighting at the camp in Iceland, some activists of the Swiss S.I. Supporters Group hand delivered a letter to the Icelandic Consuls and Ambassador in Switzerland. It contained an “ecological message for the Icelandic government” which we asked to be forwarded to the ministers for industry, the environment and economic affairs. Read More

The price of aluminum has risen by more than 35 percent since the beginning of 2008. Aluminium prices hit a record high this week as China, the world’s biggest producer, ordered smelters to reduce production because of power shortages. In Africa, electricity prices for consumers skyrocket as ESKOM, Landsvirkjun’s South African partner, attempts to free up energy for aluminium. As electricity is redirected to aluminium corporations, people suffer blackouts. Read More

Icelandic Economy Suffers as Century Shareholders Make Record Profit
By Jaap Krater

As inflation rates in Iceland soared to 8.7% and the Icelandic krona lost a third of it’s value, US-based Century Aluminum started construction of a much disputed aluminium smelter at Helguvik, southwest of the capital Reykjavik. The Icelandic economy is suffering from overheating as billions are spent on construction of new power plants and heavy industry projects. The central bank raised the overnight interest rate to a whopping 15% to control further price increases as Icelanders see their money’s value disappearing like snow. It would seem that the last thing the tiny Icelandic economy needs is further capital injections.

But Icelandic investors are making record profits from the new projects. The value of shares sold to them by Century less than a year ago to finance the Helguvik smelter has increased by 33%, though the company has not made a profit in years. Read More

I’ts official: the cost estimates of Landsvirkjun, the National Power Company, for Karahnjukar were false and the numerous economists and even the National Planning Agency, who criticized Landsvirkjun for massaging their economic data were dead right. The new cost estimate for Kárahnjúkar was presented by Minister of Industry Össur Skarphedinsson at the Althingi parliament yesterday.

According to Skarphedinsson the total cost of constructing the dams and the hydropower plant at Fljotsdalur has exceeded estimates by ISK 17.7 billion (USD 264 million, EUR 172 million) and is now expected to amount to ISK 133.3 billion (USD 2.0 billion, EUR 1.3 billion). MP for the Left-Greens Álfheidur Ingadóttir said until yesterday people had not been aware of by how much cost estimates were exceeded. Ingadóttir criticized the minister for not taking the cost of agreements with contractors into account. She argued that by including such agreements the original cost estimate is exceeded by an even higher amount, ISK 32.5 billion (USD 484 million, EUR 315 million).

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The United Nations Human Rights Committee has determined that Icelandic authorities violated the rights of two Icelandic fishermen who were not allocated any fishing quota after applying for it and were deemed to go fishing on a boat that had none.
The Human Rights Committee concluded that the Icelandic state should give the fishermen full compensation and establish a fisheries control system that fulfills the demands of international law, Morgunbladid reports. Read More

Gabrielle Jamela Hosein has written a thought provoking article that gathers together a feminist, racial and land based critique of Trinidad’s so called Vision 2020 development plan, which focuses on development through aluminium smelting and other heavy industries. Below is an extract, the full article can be found here Read More