Alcoa scales back output in Indiana

Pittsburgh-based aluminum producer Alcoa Corp. says it is in the process of curtailing output from one of three operating smelting lines, or potlines, at its Warrick Operations facility in Indiana. The company cites “operational challenges.”

John Slaven, Alcoa chief operations officer, says, “Our teams will be focused on ensuring that we bring down this capacity safely while protecting production at the two other operating lines."

In its 2020 sustainability report, covering activity in the prior year, Alcoa described its “ongoing focus on increasing the recycled content in the flat-rolled aluminum produced at our Warrick Operations.”

That effort meant that in the 2019 in the United States, Alcoa was able to use 34.5 percent recycled content to make its aluminum compared with 30.4 percent in 2018. “We again anticipate increasing this amount due to equipment upgrades and other initiatives that will continue through 2020,” adds the company.

Each of the three smelting lines at Warrick have approximately 54,000 metric tons per year of capacity, according to Alcoa. The potline selected for shut down was expected to be fully curtailed by the end of the day Friday, July 1.