Missouri Closure Further Dims U.S. Primary Aluminum Smelting

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The U.S. primary aluminum-smelter sector was dealt a serious blow last week, when independent producer Magnitude 7 Metals LLC, which represents about 20% of domestic primary aluminum production, abruptly announced it would close its doors before the end of the month. The plant in Marston, Missouri, is one of the last of its kind in the U.S. Of the $186.5 million in active and planned projects at domestic aluminum-production plants tracked by Industrial Info, about $137 million is attributed to closure or post-closure reclamation projects. Most others are related to maintenance or standard inspection projects.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing the top 10 countries for primary aluminum-production projects, by total investment value.

The Marston plant produced 280,000 tons per year. Citing circumstances that "were not reasonably foreseeable," Magnitude 7 sent its employees a letter Wednesday indicating most of them "will no longer be required after January 28," but that owners would continue seeking investors and "look for ways to restart the smelter in the future." A local TV station in Missouri's New Madrid County was the first to report on the letter's contents.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project and Plant databases can learn more about the Magnitude 7 facility in a detailed plant profile.

Century Aluminum Incorporated (Chicago, Illinois) is bucking the trend in a small way: It expects to finish an expansion and restart of a potline at its Mount Holly Aluminum Smelter in Goose Creek, South Carolina, which will increase the facility's total nameplate capacity from 115,000 to 170,000 tons per year. The expansion is the second part of a two-phase, $93 million project that kicked off in first-quarter 2021. Subscribers can learn more from a detailed project report and plant profile.

But Century Aluminum also has seen the harsh realities facing the U.S. aluminum-production sector: The company closed its smelter in Hawesville, Kentucky, in the summer of 2022. Including the Magnitude 7 plant in Marston and the Century Aluminum plant in Goose Creek, there are only five U.S.-based aluminum smelters still active. The other three are:

• Century Aluminum's Sebree Aluminum Smelter in Robards, Kentucky; see plant profile
• Alcoa Corporation's (NYSE:AA) (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Warrick Aluminum Smelter in Newburgh, Indiana; see plant profile
• Alcoa's West Plant in Massena, New York; see plant profile

"Aluminum smelters use a lot of electricity," said Joe Govreau, Industrial Info's vice president of research for the Metals & Minerals Industry. "Electricity costs are generally too high in the U.S. to make aluminum smelting profitable. And so, over the past several decades, we've seen the U.S. lose its leadership position in primary aluminum production to countries like Canada that have access to cheap hydroelectric power. The U.S. relies on imports for most of our aluminum requirements. Canada supplies about 50% of our aluminum imports."

The U.S. market for downstream aluminum rolling, processing, finishing and fabrication has been robust, riding the lightweighting trend that has seen demand for aluminum rise. This sector boasts more than $9 billion worth of active and planned projects, according to Industrial Info's GMI database, including more than $5.4 billion worth that are nearing or under construction. About 10 miles west of Hawesville, Commonwealth Rolled Products, a subsidiary of American Industrial Partners (New York City, New York), is wrapping up the expansion of its aluminum-rolling mill and coil-coating plant in Lewisport, Kentucky, to better serve its automotive and industrial-manufacturing customers. Subscribers can learn more in a detailed project report and plant profile.

And about 30 miles west of Lewisport, Kaiser Aluminum Corporation (NASDAQ:KALU) (Lake Forest, California) is expanding its Warrick Aluminum Rolling Mill in Newburgh, Indiana. The company is adding a 100,000-square-foot production bay to shift its production toward coated products used to produce food and beverage cans and their components. Subscribers can learn more from a detailed project report and plant profile.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's GMI Project Database can click here for a full list of detailed reports for projects mentioned in this article, and click here for a full list of related plant profiles.

Subscribers can click here for a full list of reports for active and planned U.S. aluminum-production projects, and click here for a full list of reports for active and planned U.S. projects for aluminum rolling, processing, finishing and fabrication.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking more than 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 trillion (USD).