Century Aluminum’s Q1 2019 shipments up 4% QoQ driven by restart at Hawesville

Century Aluminum Company on Tuesday announced its first quarter 2019 results. The company reported a net loss of $34.6 million for the first quarter of 2019. The adjusted net loss stood at $66.6 million in Q1 2019 compared to an adjusted net loss of $40.7 million in Q4 2018.

Shipments of primary aluminium were 206,451 tonnes compared with 199,466 tonnes in Q4 2018, reflecting the continued incremental production from the Hawesville restart.  Net sales increased from $486.9 million to $490.0 million in Q1 2019, up 1 per cent quarter-on-quarter despite lower LME prices and regional premiums.

Adjusted EBITDA stood at $(44.1) million driven by the unprecedented alumina price relative to the metal price. Cash position at quarter end was $22.2 million and revolver availability was $152.0 million.

Michael A. Bless, President and Chief Executive Officer said: "Actual trading conditions have remained for the most part favourable.  Demand growth has continued to be generally strong.  The metal price has been range bound, perhaps pending development on several significant geopolitical fronts.  Importantly, the alumina price has, as we expected, fallen significantly from its highs, but still has a ways to go to reach historical levels.  Our analysis indicates the market is very well supplied at present; new production expected to come online in 2019 as well as potential restarts in the Atlantic basin should put significant further downward pressure on the index price."

"We have continued to execute our plan of growth and cost structure improvement.  As planned, all three curtailed potlines at Hawesville were in full operation during the first quarter; the project also remains on budget.  The team are now turning their attention to rebuilding and installing the new technology on the two lines that have been continuously producing; the first of these lines was taken out of service last month and is currently being rebuilt.  The new technology continues to perform above our expectations in efficiency and process stability.  All operations are stable and safety performance has been excellent.  We believe the company is well positioned to capitalize on a return to a normal pricing environment, specifically the relationship of the alumina price to the metal price."