Century: Permanently closing Ravenswood smelter

The Ravenswood smelter has been idled since February 2009. The decision to permanently close the Ravenswood plant is based on the inability to secure a competitive power contract for the smelter, compounded by challenging aluminium market conditions largely driven by increased exports of aluminium from China. As a result, the economics of restarting and operating the facility are unfavourable.

"We have worked diligently with local, state and federal officials, along with the power company, to reopen the smelter but we have been unable to secure a long-term, competitive power contract," said Michael Bless, Century CEO. "We are convinced that all of these parties did everything within their ability to support our efforts to restart the Ravenswood smelter, and we are grateful for their commitment. We deeply regret the impact of this action on our employees and on the local community, and share in the profound disappointment. We will now turn our attention to the efficient disposition of the facility; we are committed to working with state leadership and the other relevant constituencies in this endeavour."

Ravenswood, built in 1957, has four potlines with a full operating capacity of 170,000 tonnes per year.