Century Aluminum Closes Ravenswood Smelter Permanently

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) announced that it intends to permanently close its Ravenswood aluminum smelter, effective immediately.
As quoted in the press release:

The Ravenswood smelter has been idled since February 2009. The decision to permanently close the Ravenswood plant is based on the inability to secure a competitive power contract for the smelter, compounded by challenging aluminum market conditions largely driven by increased exports of aluminum from China. As a result, the economics of restarting and operating the facility are unfavorable.

Michael Bless, CEO of Century Aluminum, commented:

We have worked diligently with local, state and federal officials, along with the power company, to reopen the smelter but we have been unable to secure a long-term, competitive power contract. We are convinced that all of these parties did everything within their ability to support our efforts to restart the Ravenswood smelter, and we are grateful for their commitment. We deeply regret the impact of this action on our employees and on the local community, and share in the profound disappointment. We will now turn our attention to the efficient disposition of the facility; we are committed to working with state leadership and the other relevant constituencies in this endeavor.

Click here to read the full Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) press release.