Century Aluminum announced on June 22 that it will temporarily shut down its aluminum plant in Hawesville, Kentucky, due to soaring energy costs, with the shutdown process set to begin on June 27.
The company said in a statement that the shutdown was “caused by soaring energy costs,” particularly the sharp increase in energy prices caused by the war between Ukraine and Russia.
According to the Messenger-Inquirer, the shutdown will leave about 628 workers unemployed. These workers will be laid off.
The aluminum plant will shut down production starting June 27 and will be out of service for 9 to 12 months until energy prices return to normal levels. The company sent only about three days’ notice to employees to initiate the shutdown.
According to the company, the plant is Century Aluminum’s largest aluminum plant in the United States and the largest producer of high-purity aluminum in North America. The aluminum plant has an annual capacity of 250,000 tons of primary aluminum, with production in 2021 at around 170,000 tons. Century Aluminum originally planned to restart the plant’s previous shutdown capacity in 2022 to increase production to 195,000 tons.
The aluminum plant’s products are used extensively in the defense industry as well as aerospace. For example, it is used in the F16, Navy warships, Boeing 747 and even in the International Space Station.
Last week, the company was increasing production and hiring, but energy issues put a halt to everything.
Jesse Gary, president and CEO of Century Aluminum, said that in a short time making power costs more than twice the historical average price. He remains confident, however, that the aluminum plant will be ready to restart once prices stabilize. Still, the company has not committed to a restart plan for the plant after the shutdown.
Post time: Jul-12-2022