Second-largest US aluminum plant to lay off most staff -local news
25/01/2024 13:26
Jan 25 (Reuters) - The second-largest U.S. aluminum
smelter in southeast Missouri will not require "most employees"
after curtailing its operations by Jan. 28, according to a local
news report on Wednesday citing a letter from plant management.
"Due to abnormally cold weather, our operations have been
severely impaired to the point where they cannot be restored
while running," the Heartland News report cited the letter from
Magnitude 7 Metals Llc as saying.
The letter added that Magnitude 7 would continue looking
for fresh capital from potential investors to restart the
smelter in the future.
The 263,000 tonne-a-year smelter in Missouri's New Madrid
county restarted in mid-2018 after Swiss-based ARG International
AG, led by former Glencore trader Matt Lucke, bought it out of
bankruptcy from Noranda.
Heartland News said Lucke refused to comment on the
curtailment decision. ARG International did not immediately
respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The plant employs around 450 union workers, and according to
a Reuters review of pollution monitor data for 2019, chemicals
and soot pouring out of its smokestacks consistently produced
the dirtiest air recorded in America.
Industrious Labs, a nonprofit working on the energy
transition, said the main challenge for aluminum plants today is
the high cost of electricity, which makes up around 40% of their
total production costs.
"The announcement is yet another blow to the fragile primary
aluminum industry in the United States and a clear signal that
the Biden Administration must act swiftly to secure renewable
affordable energy to retain this essential material for
America's economy," said Annie Sartor, Aluminum Campaign
Director for Industrious Labs.
The United States had 23 operating plants in 1998. It now
has five, including Magnitude 7, with many of the lost smelters
dismantled and sites reclaimed.
In March 2023, Alcoa AA.N announced the permanent closure
of its 279,000 tonne-per-year Intalco aluminum smelter in
Washington state to prepare the site for redevelopment.
In June 2022, Century Aluminum idled its Hawesville,
Kentucky, smelter after the power cost to operate the plant more
than tripled.
(Reporting by Deep Vakil in Bengaluru
Editing by Peter Graff)
((DeepKaushik.Vakil@thomsonreuters.com;))