Chicago, Illinois-based Century Aluminum Company, a producer of primary aluminum, including standard grade and value-added primary aluminum products, has announced that the company will curtail its Hawesville, Kentucky smelter operations for 9-12 months.
The curtailment will impact 628 employees with layoffs scheduled between August 5, 2022, and August 12, 2022. Employees will "prepare the facility for a restart when energy prices stabilize."
"Century is one of just a handful of aluminum smelters left in the United States and the only high-purity smelter in the world. Hawesville is Century’s largest U.S. smelter and is the largest producer of high-purity primary aluminum in North America. Four of Hawesville’s five potlines are capable of producing high-purity aluminum, which supports the United States’ national security efforts and is used in defense applications such as the F16, Airbus, Naval war vessels, 747 airplanes and the International Space Station."
"In order to continue to operate its smelter located in Hawesville, Kentucky, Century Aluminum of Kentucky GP must be able to purchase reliable, affordable electric power. Unfortunately, an unprecedented rise in global energy prices arising from the Russian war in Ukraine has dramatically increased the price of energy in the U.S. and around the globe. The cost required to run our Hawesville, KY, facility has more than tripled the historical average in a very short period. Given these circumstances it is necessary to fully curtail operations for a period of approximately nine to twelve months at Hawesville until energy prices return to more normalized levels. This is expected to result in the layoff of 628 Hawesville Smelter employees."
Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?