Century Aluminum, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Century Aluminum Company is looking to secure a competitively priced power arrangement to deliver energy to Mt. Holly smelter plant, according to a press release issued by Century Aluminum.
The company plans to close down the plant's operations if no new deal is reached.
Century Aluminum said in the press release that they have already issued notices to its employees at Mt. Holly about its intention.
The announcement is pursuant to the federal Working Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).
Century Aluminum adds in the press release that they plan to close 100 percent of the plant's operations no later than December 31, 2015 if no new deal is reached.
The date is when the company's power contract with the South Carolina Public Service Authority, also known as Santee Cooper, expires.
Michael Bless, the president and CEO of Century Aluminum, said in the press release that the company has already reached an agreement with a provider to produce the required power at market rates.
"Unfortunately, we have been unable to reach agreement with Santee Cooper to deliver such power to Mt. Holly despite Mt. Holly's offer to pay Santee the full transmission tariff rate," he said. "We remain resolved to find a solution that will support the plant's continuing operations and preserve the plant's over 2000 direct and indirect jobs and over $945 million in annual economic impact to the region."
Reuters added that the announcement comes two months after Century Aluminum said they will begin curtailing the capacity of the smelter at Hawesville, Kentucky at the end of this month.
The company said that the reason for the curtailment is due to the falling prices and cheap exports from China.
Reuters adds that on Thursday, October 23, 2015, aluminum prices on the London Metal Exchange fell to their lowest level in six years.
The decrease was due to the pressure from the surplus output by the top producer China.
Reuters adds that both Century Aluminum and Santee Cooper said that they are both open to further negotiations over the power delivery rate.
