Alcoa Casting Commercial Vice President Christine Keener is quoted in a recent Reuters article,
“Should the economics change, they could certainly come back.”
According to the article, Keener was speaking about Intalco Works and the Wenatchee smelter at the Platts Aluminum Symposium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Thursday, January 21st. She is also quoted as saying,
“We will continue to have discussions around power and cross that bridge when we get there.”
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The Alcoa news release announcing the plan to idle the Intalco and Wenatchee aluminum smelters spoke to the drop in aluminum prices as a driving force in the decision to focus on production at facilities able to take advantage of lower energy prices.
Tuesday, January 19th, Alcoa announced they were delaying the production curtailment and related layoffs at Intalco from the end of first quarter to the end of second quarter (end of June). “Recent changes in energy and raw material costs” were cited as the forces driving that decision.
Alcoa Intalco Works draws its electrical power from Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and are operating under a ten-year contract with BPA through September 2022. There have been no indications of discussions between Alcoa and BPA.
Intalco Works started operations in 1966 and, like many US smelters, has seen one or all of its potlines idled and restarted more than once since.