Montana Primary Aluminum Producer Struggles to Remain Operating

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Columbia Falls Aluminum Company (Columbia Falls, Montana), a subsidiary of privately owned Glencore International AG (Baar, Switzerland) is struggling to stay in business. The company recently closed two potlines at its Columbia Falls, Montana primary aluminum smelter. Only one potline remains operating at the smelter. The company hopes to weather the current poor economic situation for energy, raw materials (alumina), and end product, which have continued to plague the industry for the past three years, and restart closed operations in the next 1-2 years. Columbia Falls is one of the last remaining operating aluminum smelters located in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, which has been witness to numerous closures and curtailments over the past three years.

The company is currently reevaluating capital budget plans redirecting funds to the maintaining of plant equipment during the down time. Last year the company entertained the possibility of adding a new production process to enter a new aluminum market, but those plans are currently on hold.

In September 2000, the company shutdown its first of five potlines due to the energy crisis in the Northwest. All five potlines were shutdown by January 2001. During 2002, the company began to restart its potlines. The company had three of its five aluminum potlines operating since the summer of 2002, and now has had to close two potlines leaving one in operation. At full capacity the smelter can produce about 185,000 tons of aluminum ingot per year and utilizes 342 MW.

Each potline uses about 70MW of electricity to operate. The company is currently buying its electricity on the open market through various contracts and now will sale excess power back to the grid.