The economy of Iceland is small and subject to high volatility. In 2011, gross domestic product was US$12 billion, but by 2018 it had increased to a nominal GDP of US$27 billion. With a population of 350,000, this is $55,000 per capita, based on purchasing power parity (PPP) estimates. The financial crisis of 2007–2010 produced a decline in GDP and employment that has since been reversed entirely by a recovery aided by a tourism boom starting in 2010. Tourism accounted for more than 10% of Iceland's GDP in 2017. After a period of robust growth, Iceland's economy is slowing down according to an economic outlook for the years 2018–2020 published by Arion Research in April 2018.
Alcoa Corporation is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eight-largest producer of aluminum, with corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum, and alumina combined, through its active and growing participation in all major aspects of the industry: technology, mining, refining, smelting, fabricating, and recycling.
Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV) is Iceland's national public-service broadcasting organization.
Kárahnjúkar Hydropower Plant, officially called Fljótsdalur Power Station is a hydroelectric power plant in Fljótsdalshérað municipality in eastern Iceland, designed to produce 4,600 gigawatt-hours (17,000 TJ) annually for Alcoa's Fjarðaál aluminum smelter 75 kilometres (47 mi) to the east in Reyðarfjörður. With the installed capacity of 690 megawatts (930,000 hp), the plant is the largest power plant in Iceland. The project, named after the nearby Kárahnjúkar mountains, involves damming the rivers Jökulsá á Dal and Jökulsá í Fljótsdal with five dams, creating three reservoirs. Water from the reservoirs is diverted through 73 kilometres (45 mi) of underground water tunnels and down a 420-metre (1,380 ft) vertical penstock towards a single underground power station. The smelter became fully operational in 2008 and the hydropower project was completed in 2009.
Anglesey Aluminium was a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Kaiser Aluminum. Its aluminium smelter, located on the outskirts of Holyhead, was one of the largest employers in North Wales, with 540 staff members, and began to produce aluminium in 1971. It was built on the Penrhos Estate, 500 acres of which were sold by the Stanley family for the project. Up until its closure it produced up to 142,000 tonnes of aluminium every year and was the biggest single user of electricity in the United Kingdom.
Rio Tinto Aluminium is now known as Rio Tinto Alcan after Rio's takeover of Alcan. It was the world's eighth largest aluminium company. It mines and manufactures bauxite, alumina and primary aluminium.
Reyðarfjörður is a town in Iceland. It has a population of 1,350 and is one of the most populated villages that constitute the municipality of Fjarðabyggð.
RÚV is a free-to-air channel of RÚV, the Icelandic public broadcaster, launched in 1966. The channel broadcasts primarily news, sports, entertainment, cultural programs, children's material, original Icelandic programming as well as American, British and Nordic content. Among its highest-rated programs are the comedy sketch show Spaugstofan, mystery drama Ófærð (Trapped) and Fréttir (News).
United Company RUSAL, international public joint-stock company is the world's second largest aluminium company by primary production output. It was the largest until overtaken by China Hongqiao Group in 2015. UC RUSAL accounts for almost 9% of the world's primary aluminium output and 9% of the world's alumina production.
Television in Iceland is currently composed of the public broadcasting service of RÚV, five free-to-view channels and a number of subscription channels provided by private broadcasters. Broadcasts began in 1955 when the American Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) started an English-language television service broadcasting from Naval Air Station Keflavik, which operated until 2006. The first Icelandic-language television broadcasts started in September 1966 with the launch of RÚV, originally called Sjónvarpið. In 1986 the first privately owned TV station, Stöð 2, began broadcasts. In recent years the emergence of foreign internet streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+ has seen shift from domestic providers provide similar on demand streaming services such as Síminn Premium and Stöð 2+.
Aluminium smelting is the process of extracting aluminium from its oxide, alumina, generally by the Hall-Héroult process. Alumina is extracted from the ore bauxite by means of the Bayer process at an alumina refinery.
The Point Henry aluminium smelter was located near Geelong, Victoria in the suburb of Moolap prior to its closure in 2014. The smelter had a production capacity of 185,000 tonnes of aluminium a year. It was operated by Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals Australia, a joint venture between Alcoa (60%) and Alumina Limited (39.25%). Alumina was brought in by ship and unloaded at a dedicated pier, and approximately half of this finished aluminium was sold to the neighbouring Alcoa Australia Rolled Products plant, where aluminium was rolled into sheet for can manufacture. The remainder of the aluminium was despatched by road as ingots. Around 1000 people were employed at the Point Henry plant.
The Portland aluminium smelter is located at Portland, Victoria, Australia. The smelter has a production capacity of 345,000 tonnes of aluminium per yearThe smelter is a joint venture owned by Alcoa World Alumina & Chemicals (55%), CITIC (22.5%) and Marubeni (22.5%). Alcoa manages the smelter operations.
The Tiwai Point Aluminium Smelter is an aluminium smelter owned by Rio Tinto Group (79.36%) and the Sumitomo Group (20.64%), via a joint venture called New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) Limited.
Saving Iceland is an organization that describe themselves as "a network of people of different nationalities, who do not intend to stand by passively and watch the Icelandic government in league with foreign corporations slowly kill the natural beauty of Iceland." They have been critical of the aluminum industry in Iceland.
The electricity sector in Iceland is 99.98% reliant on renewable energy: hydro power, geothermal energy and wind energy.
Century Aluminum Company is a US-based producer of primary aluminium, with aluminum plants in Kentucky, South Carolina and Iceland. It is the largest producer of primary aluminium in the United States. The company is a publicly held corporation listed on the NASDAQ. The headquarters is at One South Wacker in Chicago.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Iceland is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have reached Iceland in February 2020. As of 21 February 2022, the total number of cases registered was 109,494, of which 75,685 had recovered and 58 deaths had occurred. With a total population of about 370,000, the infection rate is about one case per four inhabitants; the infection rate was one of the highest in the world throughout March and April in 2021, though this was attributed to more tests having been carried out per capita in Iceland than any other country, including a screening of the general population run by Icelandic biotech company deCODE genetics to determine the true spread of the virus in the community.
