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May 24, 2004
Monthly Update to Customers, Employees, Suppliers, and Friends of Kaiser Aluminum:
In Today’s Court Hearing
The Court approved:
- Recently signed agreements with two unions (PACE and the ICWU) concerning the modification of retiree benefits and the replacement of those benefits with medical coverage under COBRA or under a newly formed Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA).
- Recent modifications to the previously approved retiree benefit agreements with the USWA, IAM, and the Committee that represents salaried retirees. Generally, the modifications will result in modest monthly advances to the VEBA beginning in June 2004 and continuing until Kaiser’s emergence from reorganization, as more fully discussed in Kaiser’s Form 10-Q for the first quarter of 2004. Any funding provided under these terms will reduce the $36 million VEBA contribution that is to be paid at emergence, subject to certain conditions.
Kaiser Wins Extrusion Technology Award
The company’s fabricated products business, which will form the core of the restructured Kaiser Aluminum, continues to demonstrate leadership in application engineering. In the most recent example of this, Kaiser received first prize in the Transportation category of the ET Foundation’s International Aluminum Extrusion Design Competition. The award was announced on May 19 at the Eighth International Aluminum Extrusion Technology Seminar and Exposition in Orlando, Florida. The competition honors original and innovative ideas by design and manufacturing professionals and students from around the world. Kaiser received the prize for its work on an aluminum extruded automotive suspension link for a limousine manufactured by one of the big-three automakers. The component has higher tensile strength, better fatigue properties, equivalent or improved durability performance, and overall lower cost than the steel component it replaced. The new suspension link also offers the customary benefits of aluminum: corrosion resistance, high strength-to-weight ratio, low tooling costs, and the ability to meet demanding tolerances and complex shape requirements. Congratulations go to the team at Kaiser’s London, Ontario, plant.
Liquidity
As I reported in my update letter of May 18, the company’s recent liquidity continues to be adequate.
Jack A. Hockema
President and Chief Executive Officer
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