11/07/2005

CANADA’S INTERNATIONAL TRADE MINISTER OPENS INCO JOINT VENTURE NICKEL FOAM PLANT IN DALIAN, CHINA

DALIAN, China (July 11, 2005) -- The Honourable Jim Peterson, Canada’s 
Minister of International Trade, today joined Inco officials to officially 
open Inco’s newest manufacturing joint venture in Dalian, China.

The new plant, Inco Advanced Technology Materials, manufactures nickel foam, 
used primarily as a component in rechargeable batteries.  The Dalian plant 
is a joint venture of Inco Asia Holdings, a subsidiary of Inco Limited; 
Korea Nickel Corporation; and Liaoning Wanzhong Real Property Development of 
Dalian. Inco Asia Holdings is the majority shareholder in the joint 
venture.  

"Canada is proud to showcase Inco as a leading Canadian company making 
strong inroads in China,” said Minister Peterson. “This joint venture is a 
model for any Canadian company wishing to come here and the Government of 
Canada stands behind them.”

In recent years, China has emerged as one of the world’s leading battery 
manufacturing centres.  “This plant puts Inco in an ideal position to supply 
China’s expanding battery industry as well as battery customers in Japan and 
other Asian countries,” said Peter Goudie, Inco’s Executive Vice-President 
marketing.

Rechargeable batteries using nickel foam are found in many consumer items 
and are the leading technology used in hybrid automobiles.

Inco has recently grown to become the world’s leading supplier of nickel 
foam.  Earlier this year, the company acquired the nickel foam assets of 
Shenyang Golden Champower, one of China’s leading nickel foam 
manufacturers.  Inco also manufactures nickel foam at its refinery in 
Clydach, Wales. 

The Dalian plant uses “made in China” electroplating technology licensed 
from the Harbin Institute of Technology.  “Our Dalian technology is arguably 
the best in the world for making this type of nickel foam.  It provides an 
ideal complement to the carbonyl technology we use at Clydach, which 
produces foam products with different characteristics,” says Mr. Goudie.

The Dalian plant produces above two million square metres of foam per year.  
Inco’s total annual foam production is approximately four million square 
metres.

Inco has steadily expanded its presence in China since first opening a sales 
office in Shanghai in 1994 and today has about 560 employees in five 
different locations, including a nickel salts plant in Kunshan, China, which 
began operation in 1997.

“Our venture in Dalian and our recent acquisition of Golden Champower are 
consistent with our strong belief that China will continue to drive world 
nickel demand,” said Mr. Goudie.  “We want to ensure we remain China’s 
nickel market leader, and we will keep looking for new opportunities to 
expand our presence in China.”

“Our Goro project in New Caledonia will be an important new source of nickel 
for the Chinese stainless steel industry when it comes on stream in the 
latter part of 2007, and we are expecting to build a facility in China to 
further process our Goro production,” he adds.

Inco markets a variety of nickel products to China that are used in a wide 
range of applications.  Last year, Inco’s sales to China exceeded $400 
million. 

Inco is the world’s second largest producer of nickel and an important 
producer of copper, precious metals, and cobalt. 

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July 11, 2005
IN 05/13
For more information, please contact:

Steve Mitchell, Public Affairs, Inco Limited (Toronto) at 416-361-7950 
(smitchell@inco.com)