Century Aluminum Declares Ceremonial Restart of Hawesville Smelter

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Century Aluminum Company-the second largest primary aluminum producer in the U.S announced that it will hold a ceremonial restart of the Hawesville smelter 1 PM next Wednesday during the scheduled visit of Wilbur Ross, U.S. Commerce Secretary. The ceremony will be attended by Mike Bless, president and CEO of Century Aluminum, said company press release.

Bless has been a strong proponent and fervent supporter of tariffs on imported goods from foreign countries. The company had promised to restart two idled potlines at the smelter, subject to implementation of regulatory measures by the U.S. administration on foreign aluminum imports. Earlier in January this year, Century had urged the administration to take a swift and decisive action to protect the domestic industry. It had proposed imposition of duties on imports from all world countries, not only China, in order to create a level-playing field.

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During his tour of the Hawesville smelter along with Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, Bless had highlighted the need for administrative action to counter imports of highly subsidized aluminum from countries such as China and Russia, which not only were causing severe damage to domestic aluminum industry, but also threatening national security.

Announcing the official restart, Century Aluminum noted that it plans to increase the production at Hawesville smelter operations by 60% by early next year. This ramp-up is expected to generate around 300 new jobs in the region, it noted.

As per the $75 million renovation schedule, the first three potlines at Hawesville smelter are slated to commence full production by September this year. The pending two potlines will be put into operation during Q4 this year. Also, local reports indicate that the company has already started rehiring a portion of laid off workers at its Mount Holly plant, as part of efforts to ramp up the operations to take full benefit of the import tariffs.