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Century Aluminum gives up on Ravenswood plant

Charleston Gazette-Mail photo by Bob Wojcieszak Century Aluminum announced Monday night that the Ravenswood smelter would close permanently because the company can’t secure a competitive power contract and the challenging aluminum market conditions. The Ravenswood smelter was built in 1957 and had a full operating capacity of 170,000 metric tons per year. It has been idled since February 2009.
Charleston Gazette-Mail photo by Bob Wojcieszak
Century Aluminum announced Monday night that the Ravenswood smelter would close permanently because the company can’t secure a competitive power contract and the challenging aluminum market conditions. The Ravenswood smelter was built in 1957 and had a full operating capacity of 170,000 metric tons per year. It has been idled since February 2009.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Century Aluminum will permanently shut down its Ravenswood plant effectively immediately, officials announced Monday night.

The Ravenswood smelter was built in 1957 and had a full operating capacity of 170,000 metric tons per year. It has been idled since February 2009, causing more than 650 people to lose their jobs.

In a Monday night news release, Century officials said the company was unable to secure a competitive power contract. The news release also cited challenging aluminum market conditions, which the company said is driven by increased exports of aluminum from China.

For those reasons, officials said economics for restarting the facility are “unfavorable.”

“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,” Michael Bless, Century’s CEO, said in the news release. “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 endeavor.”

Shortly after the announcement, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin issued a statement expressing his disappointment and asking company officials to reconsider…

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