The annual prize is an initiative of the supplier network and industry federation of the state of Pará, Rede de Desenvolvimento de Fornecedores da Federação das Indústrias do Estado do Pará (Redes/Fiepa). The awards are meant to honor companies that mainly buy products and services from local suppliers in Pará.

The CAP project in Barcarena, which is laying the groundwork for a future alumina refinery, was named winner in the award category "Percentum," because 99.7 percent of CAP's purchases were made from local suppliers last year.

To Nilma Chaves, administrative, environmental and social manager of the CAP project, the award is the result of work not only with suppliers but also with the community: "We prioritize purchases from local suppliers because we believe that this contributes to the development of the region and also encourages our suppliers to interact with the community, with jobs being created in the city we serve."

The Albras aluminium smelter took the third place in the "Percentum" category with 59.6 percent of its purchases from Pará suppliers. The prize was received by Elena Brito, manager of external relations and business communication, and Claudio Cunha, quality analyst.

"It is part of our job to prioritize local suppliers, and we know that this is the best way to further development," said Brito. She highlighted that the difficulty in finding local suppliers that could meet the needs of Albras, now is part of the past. "The partnership with the network of suppliers fits like a glove, and Albras has supported this initiative for 12 years," she pointed out.

The Alunorte refinery got second place in the "Absolute" category, with 237 million Brazilian reals (close to 95 million euros) in purchases of local goods and services.

"It's important to remember that Alunorte is the pioneer in support of the PDF program for supplier network development (Programa de Desenvolvimento de Fornecedores) and was reinforced again, now with Redes continuing what we believe is fundamental to the development of the state of Pará, valuing and investing in what is ours," said José Almerio Mundim, senior analyst of community relations in Alunorte, who received the award on behalf of the refinery.

Jacy Reis, head of business support for Hydro's operations in Brazil, said that the supplier development program for Pará is a tool that helps to strengthen the value chain of the state.

"The relationship between suppliers and customers, and the structure of small and medium suppliers professionalizing their activities, bring fruit to business customers through better products at competitive prices as well as to suppliers by increasing their efficiency and improvement of management processes," he said.