Century Aluminum Picked Northeastern Kentucky as the Preferred Site for New Aluminum Smelter

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Gov. Andy Beshear stated that Century Aluminum has singled out northeastern Kentucky as its preferred site for setting up its proposed new aluminum smelter. It must be noted that the region has been hard hit by job losses due to struggling coal and steel production.

The proposed smelter project has already received assistance of $500 million from the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE). Although there are still more steps remaining to make it a reality, this is an important step. The incentives package offered by the state authorities could close the deal, Beshear hoped.

Meantime, Jesse Gary, President and CEO, Century Aluminum stated that a “myriad of steps" need to be resolved, including issues connected with development and utility costs, workforce and incentives by local authorities. Although multiple locations are still under evaluation, northeastern Kentucky is considered as the most preferred location.

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If materialized, the proposed aluminum smelter project would be the largest investment on record in eastern Kentucky. It is expected to create around 5,500 construction jobs and nearly 1,000 full-time unionized jobs in the region. Also, the new smelter would lead to two-fold surge in size of U.S. primary aluminum industry.

An earlier project to build a mill near Ashland in northeastern Kentucky was abandoned due to lack of sufficient financing.