Alcoa to permanently close Australian smelter and recycling facilities

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EW YORK (Scrap Monster): Aluminium major Alcoa has announced its decision to permanently close its aluminium smelter, two rolling mills and a recycling centre in Australia. The company has announced closure of the Point Henry smelter and rolling mill located in Geelong, Victoria and the rolling mill and adjacent recycling facility located in Yennora, New South Wales.

Alcoa had placed the smelter under strategic review in 2012. The detailed studies suggested that the high cost of production at the facility makes it financially non-viable. According to the company, the 50-year old smelter may no longer be competitive enough to implement cost-cuts. The rolling mills too have been operating at lower production capacities since a long time.

The closure is feared to leave nearly 1,000 people jobless. It will reduce Alcoa’s total smelting capacity by 190,000 metric tons to nearly 3.7 million metric tons. Also, the closure of the rolling mills and recycling centre will cut 200,000 metric tons from the company’s annual can sheet capacity.

The aluminum smelter will be idled in August, whereas the rolling mills will be permanently closed by end-2014. According to the company, the subsidiary coal mine and power station of Point Henry smelter could function independently. However, they are in search of a buyer for these as well.

The closure is part of company’s efforts to optimize production facilities by idling high-cost smelters and rolling plants.

Alcoa is one of the world’s leading producers of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum, alumina and non-aluminum products including precision castings and aerospace and industrial fasteners.

from metal.com