Century Aluminum sees a net loss of $140 million in 1Q2021 despite increase in net sales & marginal rise in shipments

On Wednesday, May 5, Century Aluminum Company posted its quarterly reports announcing that its primary aluminum shipments in the first quarter ended on March 31, 2021, grew marginally by 757 tonnes to 195,697 tonnes. In Q4 2020, Century Aluminum’s shipments clocked in at 194,940 tonnes.

 Despite the marginal rise in shipments, the Company saw a 14 per cent increase in its net sales from $ 389.1 million in Q4 2020 to $ 444 million in Q1 2021. But on the other hand, Century reported a net loss of $ 140 million for the first quarter of the year - $ 104.50 million higher sequentially.

First quarter results were negatively impacted by $ 87.4 million of exceptional items, in particular $92.7 million of unrealized losses on forward derivative contracts (net of tax). Thus, Century reported an adjusted net loss of $ 52.50 million in Q1 2021 compared to the net loss of $ 30.6 million in the previous quarter.

Michael Bless, President and Chief Executive Officer, said: “We are making solid progress on the enhancements to our safety systems and processes, including robust training in safety leadership for our people. Century’s entire team is committed to and focused on this principal priority. We are also continuing to develop our low-carbon aluminum products as well as the expansion of our smelters’ exposure to renewable power resources; we are committed to playing an important role in this critical global effort and meeting the growing demand from our customers for green products.”

Mr. Bless continued, “Industry conditions have continued to improve, reflecting the pace and level of general manufacturing activity. The global primary aluminum market is in balance, and global inventories continue to fall. The availability of prompt metal units in our key markets remains constrained, driven by robust demand and the limited global capacity additions. The outlook for the industry remains uniformly healthy.”

He further added, “We made good progress on many important initiatives during the quarter,” concluded Mr. Bless. “Hawesville has returned to stability, and the team has begun the process of restoring the capacity impacted by the equipment malfunctions in late December; in addition, we were pleased to reach a new five-year labor contract which provides a solid base for the plant’s stability, growth and development. The new power contract for Mt. Holly was approved by all required parties, and began as scheduled on April 1; we have started the rebuild activity that will bring this excellent plant to 75 percent of its design capacity. Finally, the recently completed debt refinancing lowers Century’s cost of capital and provides incremental liquidity.”