Unity Aluminum under scrutiny in Kentucky

Legislators in the commonwealth of Kentucky are expressing regret about a $15 million investment made in 2017 in the former Braidy Industries, now known as Unity Aluminum.

The proposed 370,000-ton-per-year aluminum mill near Ashland, Kentucky, has been roiled by executive resignations and terminations, subsequent lawsuits and the loss of its former largest investor, Russia-based Rusal.

A late September online article on the Lexington Herald-Leader website reporting on a Kentucky state senate committee hearing quotes three different Kentucky state senators using words such as “regret” and phrases such as “one of the worst financial votes I have ever taken.”

The newspaper quotes Sen. Christian McDaniel as saying, “I will be filing a bill this year that demands your repayment of these incentives and I hope I can enjoy the support of those members on the committee.”

The $15 million public sector investment in a private enterprise was passed while Kentucky had a Republican governor and a Republican majority in its legislature. Four years later, all three skeptical senators quoted by the Herald-Leader are Republican.

The newspaper says Unity Aluminum “has not started construction or began production” at the site near Ashland “despite an original projection for the mill to be complete in 2020.”

At the September hearing, Nate Haney, a Unity Aluminum senior vice president, was quoted as saying the company remains “cautiously confident” that progress can be made after what he called “a roller coaster ride over the last couple of years.”

While the former Braidy Industries at one time touted its ability to consume aluminum scrap, after Rusal entered the picture media reports indicated the company had made an arrangement to use aluminum slabs made by the Russian company.