Century Aluminum to restart idled production at South Carolina smelter

Century Aluminum Co., headquartered in Chicago, plans to invest nearly $50 million to restart more than 50,000 metric tons of idled production at its Mt. Holly, South Carolina, smelter, which is operating at 75 percent capacity currently.

The restart also will create more than 100 new jobs and boost U.S. domestic aluminum production by almost 10 percent. The plant is expected to achieve full production by June 30, 2026, a level not seen since 2015, according to the company.

Century Aluminum credits President Donald Trump’s application of Section 232 tariffs to primary aluminum imports without exceptions or exemptions. The tariffs were increased from 25 percent to 50 percent June 4.

The restart also was made possible by the South Carolina Public Service Authority (Santee Cooper), Mt. Holly’s power supplier. Century Aluminum says it worked with Santee Cooper to reach an agreement in principle to extend the current contract through 2031 to purchase the additional power necessary for the restart.

The final details of the restart will be subject to a definitive agreement with Santee Cooper, along with confirmation of economic incentives provided by Berkeley County and the state of South Carolina, Century Aluminum notes.

"[The move] was made possible by President Trump’s commitment to onshoring manufacturing of critical metals, protecting America’s national security and to protecting American workers in our industry whose expertise is needed to ensure future generations do not have to rely on foreign supplies to build our communities and grow our economy," Century Aluminum CEO Jesse Gary says. "Our team stands ready to continue leading the resurgence of domestic primary aluminum, starting with bringing our Mt. Holly smelter back to full production.”

At full capacity, the Mt. Holly smelter has an economic impact of more than $890 million annually in the state of South Carolina, driven in part by the average wage of $100,000 for jobs directly supported by Century Aluminum, according to a University of South Carolina study released in 2024.

In March of 2024, Century was selected by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations to begin award negotiations for up to $500 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act funding to build a new aluminum smelter as part of the Industrial Demonstrations Program (IDP). With the aid of this funding, Century plans to build the first new primary aluminum smelter in the U.S. in 45 years. Upon completion, the smelter would double the size of the current U.S. primary aluminum industry, according to the company.

In the earnings presentation accompanying its fourth-quarter and year-end results for 2024, Century indicated it was evaluating locations in the Mississippi/Ohio River basins.

In its second-quarter 2025 earnings call Aug. 7, Gary said two announcements related to this project are likely in the near term, the first being the site selection and the second an energy agreement.

“You'll see those two announcements likely at the same time. And while I won’t sort of handicap the time frame there, we do continue to work actively on that. As you might imagine, that is one of the more complex parts of developing the project, given the large amount of energy that's needed and given the significant state incentive packages that will also play a role in siting that project. I'll just say we continue to work hard on it, making positive progress.”

Following site selection and energy procurement, the next phase will involve engineering work. Gary said that will be site specific and involve six to nine months.

“So, again, like we said on the last call, you're probably looking in the second half of 2026 before you see any major spending on the project on the capital side.”

For the second quarter ended June 30, Century Aluminum reported that it shipped 175,741 metric tons, 4 percent sequential increase, and adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA, attributable to Century stockholders of $74.3 million. Its net sales for the quarter decreased by $5.8 million sequentially, which it attributed to a decrease in third-party alumina sales, partially offset by favorable regional premium prices, volumes and mix.

Century Aluminum has primary aluminum smelting sites in Sebree, Kentucky; Mt. Holly; and Hawesville, Kentucky, in the U.S., though the latter has been idled since mid-2022 owing to energy prices, and in Grundartangi, Iceland.