BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C.–For nearly 40 years, Mt. Holly has been a vibrant part of Berkeley County but is in danger of shutting down, according to local Mt. Holly officials.
Back in October, Alcoa announced that it had reached an agreement to sell its ownership stake in the Mt. Holly aluminum smelter in Goose Creek to Century Aluminum Company for $67.5 million in cash, plus an additional potential earn-out. Mt. Holly is owned 50.3 percent by Alcoa and 49.7 percent by Century.
“While Mt. Holly is a strong facility, its cost structure doesn’t match Alcoa’s criteria for a low cost portfolio of upstream assets,” said Bob Wilt, President, Alcoa Global Primary Products. “The sale will help achieve Alcoa’s strategy to optimize its commodity portfolio, and protect the facility’s jobs and economic contribution to the local community. We would like to thank our community stakeholders and the employees of Mt. Holly for their years of support.”
Along with a recent sale that was finalized in December, Alcoa Mt. Holly officials say the cost of power could cause them to go out of business by the end of this year. Electricity accounts for 40 percent of Alcoa Mt. Holly’s costs, said Bob Wilt, president of Alcoa Global Primary Products in the U.S.
“Unfortunately, the rate we pay for power – which is the highest in the nation among all aluminum smelters – may force our plant to close at the end of this year,” reads the Save Mt. Holly website. “We’re doing all we can to reach a fair power rate for our company, while ensuring that other ratepayers would not pay higher rates than they would pay if Santee Cooper did not serve Mt. Holly.”
According to Mt. Holly officials, Santee Cooper and the aluminum smelter have yet to reach an agreement on a power contract.
“Negotiations are stalling, though, and time is running out,” officials have stated.
The plants 600 employees average about $92,000 a year in wages and benefits. And according to a study by the Strom Thurmond Institute, Mt. Holly provides more than 3,700 direct and indirect jobs statewide, and more than $800 million a year in economic impact.
“Beyond that, we are a part of this community – folks who call this place home – and we want to be here for years to come,” the website reads. “We will continue to explore every avenue to bring a resolution to this issue for our employees, the community and the state of South Carolina.”
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