Century Aluminum’s net sales decline 12.6% in 2020 amid flat shipments at 811,176 tonnes

US-based primary aluminium producer Century Aluminum Company has announced its fourth-quarter and full-year results of 2020, revealing a drop of 1 per cent in net sales in Q4 2020 to US$ 389.1 million from US$ 392.9 million in Q3 2020. That was primarily due to the decline in shipments from 203,022 tonnes in Q3 to 194,940 tonnes in Q4, however, partially offset by higher aluminium prices.

Net sales in the full-year decreased US$ 231.50 million or 12.60 per cent from US$ 1,836.6 million in FY19 to US$ 1,605.1 million in FY20, despite shipments stood flat year-on-year at 811,176 tonnes compared to 811,244 tonnes.

Century reported a net loss of US$ 35.5 million in Q4 2020, an improvement of US$ 22.7 million sequentially owing to higher metal prices. However, in the full-year, the company’s net loss increased from US$ 80.8 million to US$ 123.3 million.

Adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter stood at US$ 0.8 million, an increase of US$ 32.2 million from the prior quarter. In the full-year, Century’s Adjusted EBITDA grew US$ 33.4 million to US$ 2.2 million, primarily driven by lower raw material and power costs, which more than offset lower aluminium prices and regional premiums.

"Manufacturing activity remains robust in our markets, especially in the U.S.," commented Michael Bless, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Demand has continued to improve across a broad spectrum of intermediate and end markets. The availability of metal units is tight, particularly in value-added products. Coupled with a number of supportive technical trends, these factors have led to strengthening commodity prices and product premiums. In the absence of a meaningful deterioration in the global efforts to counter the pandemic, we see no change to the positive fundamental environment. We are watching closely for cost increases that often come during times such as these; thus far the impact has not been significant."

Mr. Bless continued, "The majority of our operations are stable and producing at expected levels of cost and efficiency. Hawesville continues to recover from two almost simultaneous adverse events in December, one related to cold weather and one to high voltage equipment; we are on plan to return the plant to a normal operating profile by the end of the quarter. Despite the impact of this unexpected issue, financial performance for the quarter was favorable and the results were as expected. The company's profitability and cash flow at current commodity prices is strong, and this environment will manifest in our financial results in the coming quarters."