Century Aluminum’s Iceland smelter set to reopen 6 months ahead of schedule
US-based aluminium producer, Century Aluminum, expects to restore shuttered capacity at its Grundartangi smelter in Iceland significantly ahead of schedule, with operations now set to resume by the end of April 2026, around six months earlier than initially projected.
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The plant with a capacity of 320,000 tonnes per year had reduced output by two-thirds in late October 2025, following an electrical equipment failure, tightening regional supply and pushing European aluminium premiums to a one-year high of USD 356 per tonne. In November, the company had indicated that manufacturing and installation of replacement transformers could take 11 to 12 months.
During the fourth-quarter (Q4) earnings call, CEO Jesse Gary stated, “The good news here is that we now expect we will be able to repair some of the damaged transformers and begin to restart Line 2 at the end of April, about six months sooner than originally anticipated.”
Noting that the smelter is expected to be back near full production by the end of July, he added, “We still plan to install the new replacement transformers once they are completed.” Still, the repaired transformers will enable the company “to return the line to close to full production in the interim.”
Replacement transformers are now anticipated only in the fourth quarter, amid strong global demand linked to data centre expansion.
Broader operational developments
The Iceland outage led to a 14 per cent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) decline in Century’s Q4 aluminium shipments. Nonetheless, the company forecasts only a 2.6 per cent decline in total 2026 shipments to approximately 630,000 tonnes.
Production gains are expected from the restart of 50,000 tonnes of capacity at its Mt Holly project in South Carolina in April.
Separately, Century, currently developing the first new US aluminium smelter since 1980 in partnership with Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) in Oklahoma, recently divested its idled Hawesville, Kentucky smelting site to data centre operator TeraWulf.
Image source: https://centuryaluminum.com/
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