Smelter closure to wipe nearly 30% of US aluminum capacity

[Nighthawk]

In a letter to its employees seen by Fastmarkets on Wednesday January 24, the independently owned Magnitude 7 Metals LLC aluminium smelter in Marston, Missouri said it would curtail its operations over the course of the next three to five days, and that "most employees will no longer be required after January 28"

The smelter accounts for roughly one third of primary aluminium production in the United States.

It has been mulling closure for the recent few months due to high energy costs that have rendered operations financially unfeasible, sources told Fastmarkets.

The company told its employees that the smelter’s operations have been severely impaired by abnormally cold weather conditions, to the point they could not be restored while the plant was running.

“As you may know from various groups that have toured the plant, we have actively hunted for fresh capital from potential investors to support the long-term health of [Magnitude 7.] We will continue that journey and look for ways to restart the smelter in the future,” the notice read.

“This is horrible news for the US aluminium industry and specifically for the community,” a source told Fastmarkets.

https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/smelter-closure-to-wipe-nearly-30-of-us-aluminum-capacity/

Ouch.

 

[vanzandt]

"Magnitude 7 is not the only smelter to be challenged by high energy costs. Century’s Mt Holly smelter has been running at 75% capacity since 2021 due to high energy costs, and its smelter in Hawesville, Kentucky, closed in July 2022 for the same reason.

Industry participants and nonprofits have cited access to clean, affordable energy as the biggest challenge facing the US aluminium industry. They met with Department of Energy undersecretary David Turk in late November and asked for more investments to provide the sector with clean, reliable energy."

And along those lines, you can't tell me we can't collect energy from the sun with satellites, convert it to high energy lasers (or something else in the electromagnetic spectrum) and beam it down for conversion into electricity. .

It'll happen. It's easy. But no one wants to go there now it seems. Why? Beats me. Anyone who doesn't realize the sun can be converted into an unlimited power source for Earth with the right tech... is stupid.

 

[redneckrick]

In a letter to its employees seen by Fastmarkets on Wednesday January 24, the independently owned Magnitude 7 Metals LLC aluminium smelter in Marston, Missouri said it would curtail its operations over the course of the next three to five days, and that "most employees will no longer be required after January 28"

The smelter accounts for roughly one third of primary aluminium production in the United States.

It has been mulling closure for the recent few months due to high energy costs that have rendered operations financially unfeasible, sources told Fastmarkets.

The company told its employees that the smelter’s operations have been severely impaired by abnormally cold weather conditions, to the point they could not be restored while the plant was running.

“As you may know from various groups that have toured the plant, we have actively hunted for fresh capital from potential investors to support the long-term health of [Magnitude 7.] We will continue that journey and look for ways to restart the smelter in the future,” the notice read.

“This is horrible news for the US aluminium industry and specifically for the community,” a source told Fastmarkets.

https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/smelter-closure-to-wipe-nearly-30-of-us-aluminum-capacity/

Ouch.

Given the U.S. produces less than 2% of the world's aluminum this is a big nothingburger for global aluminum supply. Would we care if Baharain closed one of their plants, cause they make more than the U.S.!

 

[maxinger]

In a letter to its employees seen by Fastmarkets on Wednesday January 24, the independently owned Magnitude 7 Metals LLC aluminium smelter in Marston, Missouri said it would curtail its operations over the course of the next three to five days, and that "most employees will no longer be required after January 28"

The smelter accounts for roughly one third of primary aluminium production in the United States.

It has been mulling closure for the recent few months due to high energy costs that have rendered operations financially unfeasible, sources told Fastmarkets.

The company told its employees that the smelter’s operations have been severely impaired by abnormally cold weather conditions, to the point they could not be restored while the plant was running.

“As you may know from various groups that have toured the plant, we have actively hunted for fresh capital from potential investors to support the long-term health of [Magnitude 7.] We will continue that journey and look for ways to restart the smelter in the future,” the notice read.

“This is horrible news for the US aluminium industry and specifically for the community,” a source told Fastmarkets.

https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/smelter-closure-to-wipe-nearly-30-of-us-aluminum-capacity/

Ouch.

Trivial news.

You wouldn't be able to sleep if you keep on looking for trivial news.

 

[zdreg]

Trivial news.

You wouldn't be able to sleep if you keep on looking for trivial news.

You can define almost any news as trivial. Only hindsight which we know is 100 per cent can tell you if a tipping point was reached or maybe not.

 

[redneckrick]

You can define almost any news as trivial. Only hindsight which we know is 100 per cent can tell you if a tipping point was reached or maybe not.

Doesn't that argue for not posting any news at all then?

I think you gotta be honest when you post news. Obviously what you posted was meant to make it out like it was a big deal. If you'd posted that it was a fraction of one percent of the world aluminum output, or even thought to check, it would have made a big difference in the overall impact and meaning of the article. That's all.

 

[murray t turtle]

In a letter to its employees seen by Fastmarkets on Wednesday January 24, the independently owned Magnitude 7 Metals LLC aluminium smelter in Marston, Missouri said it would curtail its operations over the course of the next three to five days, and that "most employees will no longer be required after January 28"

The smelter accounts for roughly one third of primary aluminium production in the United States.

It has been mulling closure for the recent few months due to high energy costs that have rendered operations financially unfeasible, sources told Fastmarkets.

The company told its employees that the smelter’s operations have been severely impaired by abnormally cold weather conditions, to the point they could not be restored while the plant was running.

“As you may know from various groups that have toured the plant, we have actively hunted for fresh capital from potential investors to support the long-term health of [Magnitude 7.] We will continue that journey and look for ways to restart the smelter in the future,” the notice read.

“This is horrible news for the US aluminium industry and specifically for the community,” a source told Fastmarkets.

https://www.fastmarkets.com/insights/smelter-closure-to-wipe-nearly-30-of-us-aluminum-capacity/

Ouch.

%%
I should do a lot more research;
but since copper + yellow brass+ red brass pays more pays [YESterdays closeLOL], this will have to do.
Looks like you maybe long that metal anyway/ speaking of long on that metal /good long term UPtrend.
In US$ price should hold or uptrend a about $1/ and /$2 a ton.[25 USa year line chart]
Best trade is give the metals female ca$hier 50 #lbs of green turnip greens. [IF they like greens LOL]................................................................... NOt a prediction; + those turnips greens have purple turnips.

 

[zdreg]

Doesn't that argue for not posting any news at all then?

I think you gotta be honest when you post news. Obviously what you posted was meant to make it out like it was a big deal. If you'd posted that it was a fraction of one percent of the world aluminum output, or even thought to check, it would have made a big difference in the overall impact and meaning of the article. That's all.

My opinion 2% world capacity is not trivial and 33% US based is certainly not trivial.

 

[vanzandt]

%%
I should do a lot more research;
but since copper + yellow brass+ red brass pays more pays [YESterdays closeLOL], this will have to do.
Looks like you maybe long that metal anyway/ speaking of long on that metal /good long term UPtrend.
In US$ price should hold or uptrend a about $1/ and /$2 a ton.[25 USa year line chart]
Best trade is give the metals female ca$hier 50 #lbs of green turnip greens. [IF they like greens LOL]................................................................... NOt a prediction; + those turnips greens have purple turnips.

"Thank God for good directions... and turnip greens."~ Luke Bryan

 

[redneckrick]

My opinion 2% world capacity is not trivial and 33% US based is certainly not trivial.

Aluminum is a commodity. It's pretty irrelevant if you get it from Canada or 'murica or Baharain, in fact in some cases it's closer to get it from Canada. To be clear, according to the article less than 1% of all aluminum is made in the U.S. and so this was responsible for a drop of .3% of the worlds aluminum smelting capacity.

Let's try the headline again: "Smelter closure wipes out .3% of worlds capacity". Would you really have posted it if that was the headline? Maybe, but the context sure does make it a whole lot less sensational don't it?