Jan 26 (Reuters) – Century Aluminum is poised to take a 40% stake in a planned U.S. smelter by Emirates Global Aluminium, the first primary aluminum plant to be built in the country in almost 50 years, the companies said on Monday.
EGA, which will keep 60% of the joint venture, announced plans to build the smelter in Inola, Oklahoma, in May 2025.
The companies did not reveal financial terms of the deal.
EGA had said last year that it expected to invest around $4 billion to develop the project.
With Century on board, the smelter’s planned capacity has been increased to 750,000 metric tons of aluminum per year, from 600,000 tons previously, the companies said, which would more than double U.S. output of the metal.
Construction of the smelter will start by year-end, with production to begin by the end of the decade, the companies said, adding that the project would create 1,000 permanent jobs at the site and support 4,000 construction jobs.
SMELTER TO BENEFIT DEFENSE, AUTO, CONSTRUCTION SECTORS
U.S. President Donald Trump has sought to bolster domestic production of aluminum, which is on the U.S. list of critical minerals, by imposing a tariff on imports.
The levy was doubled to 50% from June last year and pushed up the Midwest aluminum premium – which U.S. consumers typically pay on top of the London Metal Exchange aluminum price for physical metal – to a record 99 cents per lb this month, or around $2,183 per ton.
The U.S. automotive, aerospace, construction, packaging and national defense industries stood to benefit, said Jesse Gary, CEO of Chicago-based Century.
“About 85% of the aluminum needs of American industries are currently met by imports. The new smelter will expand the domestic supply of this critical mineral and grow the American aluminum workforce, revitalizing U.S. aluminum expertise and know-how,” EGA and Century said in their statement.
(Reporting by Anmol Choubey in Bengaluru and Tom Daly; Editing by Louise Heavens and Bernadette Baum)
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