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Alcoa seeks cheaper electric rates
Edited by : AL CIRCLE
1 min read
Alcoa Inc. continues to negotiate with the Tennessee Valley Authority for a new power contract that could help the aluminum maker reactivate its shuttered smelting operations in Blount County.
But Alcoa Vice President Michael Padgett said Thursday that aluminum prices will have to improve along with better TVA rates for the company to resume production and rehire some of the 450 employees laid off in March 2009.
"Unfortunately in the past couple of months, we've had another downturn in the pricing side," Padgett told U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., during a roundtable discussion on power prices and jobs.
"We've been working to get a competitive rate (for aluminum) to restart the facility. But so far, the economics of the aluminum industry haven't really rallied enough to justify the increase."
Economic shifts and global competition cut the number of smelters operating in the United States from 33 in 1980 to only nine today, Padgett said.
"Due the nature of the process, the price of electricity is very important to the aluminum smelting process, accounting for up to 40 percent of the final cost of a product," Padgett said.
But Alcoa Vice President Michael Padgett said Thursday that aluminum prices will have to improve along with better TVA rates for the company to resume production and rehire some of the 450 employees laid off in March 2009.
"Unfortunately in the past couple of months, we've had another downturn in the pricing side," Padgett told U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., during a roundtable discussion on power prices and jobs.
"We've been working to get a competitive rate (for aluminum) to restart the facility. But so far, the economics of the aluminum industry haven't really rallied enough to justify the increase."
Economic shifts and global competition cut the number of smelters operating in the United States from 33 in 1980 to only nine today, Padgett said.
"Due the nature of the process, the price of electricity is very important to the aluminum smelting process, accounting for up to 40 percent of the final cost of a product," Padgett said.
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