Alcoa is curtailing one third of its production capacity at its Lista smelter in Norway to mitigate high energy costs for the site.
The Lista smelter has three potlines with a nameplate capacity of 94,000 tpy.
Cutbacks in production begin immediately
The curtailment of one potline, or some 31,000 t, will begin immediately and is expected to be complete within 14 days. The employees will remain to complete an orderly shutdown of the one potline and to be ready in the event of a restart.
Cheaper energy contract takes effect from Q4
The site is currently exposed to spot energy pricing, which has increased to above USD600/MWh. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the energy situation for the site is expected to improve due to a favourable agreement with power utility Statkraft that will provide more predictable energy costs throughout the remainder of the year and into 2023.
Globally, 65 % of Alcoa’s global smelting portfolio is currently powered by long-term energy contracts linked to the LME aluminium pricing; around 30 % has either fixed price or self-generated pricing, and the remaining percentage is exposed to short-term markets, which primarily covers consumption at the Lista smelter.