Kaiser Aluminum Appoints Christian Bersuder and Philippe Lassince To Lead International Growth Initiatives

FOOTHILL RANCH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (NASDAQ:KALU) today announced the appointment of Christian Bersuder and Philippe Lassince to lead international business initiatives.

Bersuder has been named Vice President of Sales and Marketing, General Engineering and Aerospace for Europe, Asia and South America. In this newly-created role, he will manage the establishment and execution of Kaiser's commercial growth strategies outside of North America. Lassince has been named Director of Research and Development for Europe, Asia and South America, and will lead the technical support for those regions. The company has established an office in France to support its business opportunities and global growth initiatives.

"Furthering our strategy of leveraging our manufacturing and technological capabilities to expand our market presence, Christian and Philippe bring industry knowledge and expertise to pursue profitable global growth opportunities," said Jack A. Hockema, President, CEO and Chairman. "Each brings more than 25 years of experience in the industry and has a solid understanding of the market as well as the needs and interests of our global customers. Their leadership will help solidify Kaiser Aluminum's position as a global supplier of highly engineered aluminum products for technically demanding applications."

Bersuder holds more than 30 years of commercial experience in the aluminum industry. He most recently served as vice president, marketing and sales, for the ATI Division at Rio Tinto Alcan. He has a business degree from the Institut Europeen d'Etudes Commerciales Superieures de Strasbourg and completed the Executive Program in Strategy and Organization at Stanford University.

Lassince has more than 28 years of technical experience in the aluminum industry. He most recently served as director of research and product development for the ATI Division at Rio Tinto Alcan. He earned an engineering degree from the Ecole Nationale des Mines de Paris.

Kaiser Aluminum, headquartered in Foothill Ranch, Calif., is a leading producer of fabricated aluminum products, serving customers worldwide with highly-engineered solutions for aerospace and high-strength, general engineering, and custom automotive and industrial applications. The company's North American facilities annually produce more than 500 million pounds of value-added sheet, plate, extrusions, forgings, rod, bar and tube products, adhering to traditions of quality, innovation and service that have been key components of our culture since the company was founded in 1946. The company's stock is included in the Russell 2000(R) index. For more information, please visit www.kaiseraluminum.com.

This press release contains statements based on management's current expectations, estimates and projections that constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 involving known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the company to be materially different from those expressed or implied. Kaiser Aluminum cautions that such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance or events and involve significant risks and uncertainties and actual events may vary materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. These factors include: (a) the company's ability to successfully leverage its manufacturing and technological capabilities to expand its market presence; (b) the company's ongoing ability to meet changing global demands for highly engineered aluminum products for technically demanding applications as those applications continue to evolve; (c) changes in economic or aluminum industry business conditions generally, including supply, demand and credit conditions; (d) changes in the markets served by the company, including aerospace, defense, general engineering, automotive, distribution and other markets, including changes impacting the volume, price or mix of products sold by the company; (e) changes in competitive factors in the markets served by the company; (f) developments in technology used by the company, its competitors or its customers; and (g) other risk factors summarized in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007. All information in this release is as of the date of the release. The company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement to conform the statement to actual results or changes in the company's expectations.

    Source: Kaiser Aluminum Corporation

Released January 19, 2009