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Century Issues WARN Notice at Mt. Holly, SC Smelter
Plant to be Curtailed Unless New Power Arrangement Reached CHICAGO, Oct. 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Century Aluminum of South Carolina, a wholly-owned
About this update from Century Aluminum Company
[{"type":"text","content":"Plant to be Curtailed Unless New Power Arrangement Reached\nCHICAGO, Oct. 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Century Aluminum of South Carolina, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ: CENX), today issued a notice to employees at its Mt. Holly, South Carolina aluminum smelter of its intent to curtail plant operations if the smelter is unable to secure a competitively priced power arrangement to deliver energy to the plant. The announcement was made pursuant to the federal Working Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).\n If a competitively priced power arrangement cannot be secured, Century Aluminum of South Carolina will curtail 100% of smelter operations by no later than December 31, 2020, when its current power contract with the South Carolina Public Service Authority (also known as Santee Cooper) expires. Santee Cooper’s rates are the highest offered to any U. S. smelter and nearly twice as high as Century would be able to obtain on the open market. \"Mt. Holly is the newest, most efficient and, except for its power costs, the lowest cost aluminum smelter in the United States, with a dedicated and highly skilled workforce and a reputation for quality production as assessed by a world class customer base,\" commented Michael Bless, Century Aluminum Company President and Chief Executive Officer. \"The closure of Mt. Holly would be a distressing and totally unnecessary tragedy for our 295 employees, their families and the broader community in South Carolina. With competitively priced power, Mt. Holly would return to full capacity, employing 600 persons, supporting over 2,000 total jobs and creating $1 billion in economic activity.\" Mr. Bless continued, \"The loss of one of the last six primary aluminum smelters in the U.S. would irreparably harm our country's ability to produce this critical material. The Administration has sought to address the worst effects of unfair foreign competition and illegal subsidies that foreign governments provide to their companies; many of these subsidies are in the form of below-market power contracts. With access to competitive (not subsidized) market-based power, smelters in this country can and do compete vigorously on the world stage and expand their footprints; our plants in Kentucky are prime examples of this truism. Tragically, the situation in South Carolina r...