ALCAN TO CLOSE WEST GERMAN SMELTER Alcan Aluminium Ltd is closing its aluminum smelter in Ludwigshafen, West Germany this June due to high operating costs, an Alcan spokesman said. The smelter, near Frankfurt, had annual capacity of about 44,000 tonnes but was operating at about half that in January, spokesman Fernand Leclerc said. Leclerc said Alcan decided it would cost too much to modernize the plant. He said there is a possibility the company will sell the smelter, which currently employs 320 people, before its scheduled closing.