Thursday June 14, 8:39 am Eastern Time
Alcoa to idle Wenatchee, Wash., smelter for 15 months
biz.yahoo.com
NEW YORK, June 14 (Reuters) - Aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. (NYSE:AA - news) said late Wednesday it will idle its smelter in Wenatchee, Washington, for 15 months, and return the unused electricity to the local public utility.
In a joint press release with the Chelan Public Utility District, Alcoa announced it agreed to halt the remaining 95,000 tonnes of production at the plant, beginning July 1. It will maintain a workforce of over 400 employees while
idled. The deal will free up power for the district, which can then sell it at market rates and use the revenue to purchase up to 400 megawatts of additional power to serve Alcoa and other power users in the future. Alcoa said it plans to restart the 95,000 tonnes of capacity at the smelter at the end of the idle period. The plant's total capacity is 220,000 tonnes, but was operating at reduced rate after earlier curtailments at its Wenatchee and Ferndale, Washington, smelters. Alcoa said the effect on its earnings during the idle period will not be material. |
