Alcoa resumes San Ciprián smelter restart, facing economic loss first
Alcoa Corporation, with its joint venture partner, IGNIS Equity Holdings, SL, have recently made an announcement of commencing the restart process of the San Ciprian smelter in Spain. Previously, on April 28, 2025, Alcoa's complex in this location received a wide power outage all across Spain, affecting the operations of both the smelter and the refinery.
The production of this joint venture was curtailed in 2021 due to the high power prices. It began the process of restart, but again took a pause due to nationwide power outage in Spain on April 28, 2025, disrupting the overall operations in the adjacent smelter and refinery. Before the curtailment, the facility held the total production capacity of 228,000 tonnes annually, representing a substantial portion of the European aluminium manufacturing infrastructure.
Concerning energy, many times the global aluminium industry underwent struggles, facing production disruption and price volatility. Similarly, the situation in Spain created immense challenge for Alcoa and the joint venture. Within the overall aluminium production cost, 40 per cent of it consists of electricity, an economic equation which created fuss in Spanish energy rates back in 2021.
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