LIGHT METALS: Reynolds Steps Out

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For three months, SPBoss W. Stuart Symington has barked threats of government-subsidized competition at the Aluminum Co. of America. Last week, his bite proved milder than his bark. He approved a five-year lease to Reynolds Metals Co., Alcoa's only competitor, of the government-owned Hurricane Creek and Jones Mill plants in Arkansas. But there were no provisions for any subsidy in the lease, the first negotiated by RFC for any government-owned aluminum plants.

Reynolds will pay rent to RFC on a sliding scale, from $535,000 a year to $1,070,000, for the $29,000,000 Jones Mill aluminum-making plant, and a rent of $273,000 and up a year (depending on output) for Hurricane Creek, the nation's biggest producer of alumina (the oxide from which aluminum is made).

How much more competition would Reynolds' big, bluff president Richard S. Reynolds give Alcoa? With Hurricane Creek, Reynolds now has a capacity of 1,755 million lbs. of alumina v. Alcoa's 2,100 million lbs. In production of virgin aluminum, Alcoa still outstrips Reynolds. But Reynolds has enough excess alumina capacity to make SPB feel that aluminum plants are no longer dependent on Alcoa.

President Reynolds was highly pleased with his lease. Now he has his eye on other RFC aluminum plants in Troutdale, Ore. and Spokane, Wash. These would permit him to step up production at Hurricane Creek, now scheduled for only 25% of capacity. It will also be the best proof that Alcoa is no longer a monopoly.