Century Aluminum would move immediately to restart more than 100,000 mt/year of its idled 

smelter  capacity  in  the  US if it could lower electricity costs for its Mt Holly smelter in South 

Carolina, Michael Bless, the company's president and CEO, said Wednesday. 

The 224,000 mt/year smelter has been running just one of its two potlines for about two year

s,  due  to an  ongoing dispute with longtime power provider Santee Cooper over contracted 

prices. 

Asked  during  an earnings call what it would take to bring shuttered capacity at Mt. Holly and 

another US smelter back online, and when such a decision might be made, Bless said that for 

Mt. Holly, it would come "as soon as we can get the last 25% of that power from the market." 

Bless  consistently refers to Mt. Holly as Century's most modern and efficient US smelter. But 

he insists Century cannot afford to restart the plant's second potline as long as it is paying hi 

gher than market prices for power from Santee Cooper. 

Under a three-year agreement reached by the two parties in 2015, Century is allowed to pur 

chase 75% of the smelter's power from third parties, but still must buy 25% from Santee Coo 

per.  A  hearing  related to the dispute has been scheduled for September 1 (See story, 212

3 GMT). 

"If we could achieve through our litigation or otherwise the last 25% to get to market, we'd rest

art that today," Bless reiterated, though he acknowledged it would take "several months" to ac

tually resume production once a decision was made. 

Low London Metal Exchange aluminum prices have kept the company's 252,000 mt/year Haw

esville smelter in western Kentucky running at about 40% for the past two years, with only two 

of its five potlines making aluminum. 

Bless suggested Century also would like to restart some capacity at Hawesville, which already 

buys  all  o f its  electricity from the less expensive wholesale market -- as does Century's 211,

000 mt/year Sebree smelter, also in western Kentucky. 

Hawesville  currently  "makes money,"  he said, highlighting improved performance during 20

17. But a restart of additional potlines at Hawesville depends more on LME pricing, he said. 

Century might restart potlines at Hawesville "if we had some confidence that the current price 

environment, at the very least, was going to persist," he said. "We're just not quite there yet." 

During   the  past  year or so, Bless and Century have led the charge in the US against what 

they  claim  are  illegal  subsidies  by  the  Chinese  government  of  that country's aluminum 

industry.  In  January, the US filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization against the 

Chinese subsidies.