Century Aluminum Sebree is set to close one of three potlines at its aluminium smelter in Sebree, Kentucky, US, by the end of December, cutting the facility’s annual capacity by 70,000t.
Each potline contains 128 aluminum pots. The company made the announcement in accordance with the federal Working Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN).
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Century issued a notice to 525 employees working at the smelter with regard to idling of the potline.
Century Aluminum president and CEO Michael Bless said: "We regret issuing this notice and absolutely recognise the impact it will have on our employees, in our community and with our customers.
"This is a direct result of Chinese overcapacity and the improper export of heavily subsidised Chinese aluminium products that has caused the significant decline in the price of aluminium."
Century said it is working with the industry and the US Government to address this immediately.
The Sebree facility is 100%-owned and operated through Century Aluminum, and produces approximately 210,000mt of aluminium at full capacity.
The smelter began operations in 1973 and has created more ten billion pounds of aluminium since then.
In October, Century Aluminum of South Carolina announced its proposal to cut plant operations in case the smelter fails to secure a competitively priced power arrangement to deliver energy to the plant.
