A new lease on life for a Hancock County, Kentucky aluminum plant, set to close last month.
Century Aluminum officials say the hawesville plant will continue operating on a limited basis.
A month before being idled, a limited comeback for the Hawesville smelter and some workers.
“For the couple of hundred folks that are still there, that is great news,” says Mike Baker of the Hancock Co. Industrial Foundation.
Century Aluminum President Michael Bless says production will continue at 40% of capacity, with two of the five pot lines still making aluminum. Bless says improving market conditions allow the plant to stay open, but how long will depend on market conditions, including the price of aluminum and operating costs. Baker says he’s cautiously optimistic about the plant’s future.
“If partial operations can continue to be successful, and then as market conditions change and it becomes more favorable, then it becomes more likely that more production can be brought back online to meet those new demands,” he says.
Last month, Century announced the smelter would be shut down, leaving more than 700 workers out of the job.
“Nobody wants to go through that,” says Mike Brown of Lewisport, who works at the plant.
A United Steelworkers spokesman says the exact number of employees remaining hasn’t been determined. Some are still disappointed that hundreds will still be out of the job next month.
“Disappointing that I’m going to have to go to the unemployment line, sign up for unemployment and start looking for another job to provide for my family,” says Brown.
The reduced operations are scheduled to start October 24th.
