Aleris Announces Idling of Its Richmond, Virginia Rolling Mill Facility

BEACHWOOD, Ohio, Nov. 17 OH-Aleris-idles-mill


BEACHWOOD, Ohio, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Aleris International, Inc.
announced today that it will be fully idling production at its Richmond,
Virginia rolling mill due to the continuing downturn in the North American
building and construction industry.  Earlier this year, Aleris announced that
it idled all production for third parties at the Richmond site and that all
remaining production would be used for internal requirements only.  With
today's announcement, Aleris will be ceasing all further production at the
facility until industry conditions improve.



Aleris International, Inc. is a global leader in aluminum rolled products
and extrusions, aluminum recycling and specification alloy production.
Headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, the Company operates
over 40 production facilities in North America, Europe, South America and
Asia, and employs approximately 8,400 employees. For more information about
Aleris, please visit our Web site at http://www.aleris.com.



SAFE HARBOR REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS


Forward-looking statements made in this news release are made pursuant to
the safe harbor provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995.  These include statements that contain words such as "believe,"
"expect," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "should" and similar expressions
intended to connote future events and circumstances, and include statements
regarding future actual and adjusted earnings; future improvements in margins,
processing volumes and pricing; overall 2008 operating performance;
anticipated effective tax rates; expected cost savings; success in integrating
and anticipated synergies resulting from Aleris's recent acquisitions,
including the acquisition of the downstream aluminum businesses of Corus Group
plc; its future growth; the anticipated economic environment in 2008; and
future benefits from acquisitions and new products.  Investors are cautioned
that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and that
actual results could differ materially from those described in the forward-
looking statements.  These risks and uncertainties would include, without
limitation, Aleris's levels of indebtedness and debt service obligations; its
ability to effectively integrate the business and operations of its
acquisitions; further slowdowns in automotive production in the U.S. and
Europe; the financial condition of Aleris's customers and future bankruptcies
and defaults by major customers; the availability at favorable cost of
aluminum scrap and other metal supplies that Aleris processes; the ability of
Aleris to enter into effective metals, natural gas and other commodity
derivatives; continued increases in natural gas and other fuel costs of
Aleris; a weakening in industrial demand resulting from a decline in U.S. or
world economic conditions, including any decline caused by terrorist
activities or other unanticipated events; future utilized capacity of Aleris's
various facilities; a continuation of building and construction customers and
distribution customers reducing their inventory levels and reducing the volume
of Aleris's shipments; restrictions on and future levels and timing of capital
expenditures; retention of Aleris's major customers; the timing and amounts of
collections; currency exchange fluctuations; future write-downs or impairment
charges which may be required because of the occurrence of some of the
uncertainties listed above; the difficult conditions in the capital, credit,
commodities, automobile and housing markets and in the current economy; and
other risks listed in Aleris's filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the "SEC"), including but not limited to Aleris's annual report on
Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007, and  quarterly report
on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2008, particularly the
section entitled "Risk Factors" contained therein.



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SOURCE  Aleris International, Inc.