Volvo, BMW, Mercedes-Benz. Automakers in South Carolina are working hard for the future of electric vehicles, and Century Aluminum CEO Jesse Gary said that the Holly Hills plant can allow them to achieve this goal.

For decades, the Mount Holly smelter in Moncks Corner has cast molten aluminum into billets, which are then extruded into various shapes for automotive, aerospace, construction, and other uses. Gary explained that the picture Play-Doh, launched through a printing press, came out of aluminum cans or wheels.

Gary, who succeeded Mike Bless as CEO in July, said that most of Mount Holly's billets are used in the automotive and construction industries. Looking ahead, a key area of ​​the plant is electric vehicles. In fact, electric cars require more aluminum than traditional internal combustion engine cars.

"This is because the aluminum in electric vehicles tends to be lighter, so they need more aluminum so they can travel longer distances," Gary said. "In addition, aluminum is used to cool the battery, so all the casings around the battery pack are made of aluminum extrusions."

In the future, Mount Holly's second electrolytic cell production line will be fired and more than 100 employees will be employed, which will restore the annual aluminum production capacity of the smelter to 75% of 229,000 metric tons.

Reconstruction is not only key to Mount Holly and its more than $60 million investment, it is also key to Alcoa, which has reduced to 6 companies compared with 33 companies in 1990. Aluminum is necessary for national security, Gary said, as a product for military applications and power grids.

Gary said that although the country's smelters have recovered on a large scale since the implementation of import measures under Article 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 in 2018, the pandemic has also caused aluminum prices to soar, which has risen by nearly 30% this year.

"When we saw unexpected consumer spending, aluminum prices started to rebound and became stronger... stronger than before the pandemic, stronger than we have seen for a long time," he said.

According to data from Trading Economics, the transaction price of aluminum in July was nearly US$2,600 per metric ton, which is the highest price since June 2011-considering today’s higher demand and tighter supply, this is a larger Feat. Prices have risen steadily since July 2019, when the value of aluminum was US$1,797 per metric ton.

The impact of rising aluminum prices has been felt globally. Reynolds Wrap, the country's leading aluminum foil producer, said it faces more than $400 million in aluminum and resin costs, while Dutch beer company Heineken warned in its first-half earnings report that there will be a "material impact" in 2022.

Gary said that in the long run, there are only six smelters in operation in the United States. This year the United States will produce slightly more than 1 million tons of aluminum, but consumers will use 5.5 million to 6 million tons. The difference will come from imports, including approximately 3 million tons from Canada.

"Our needs are far from enough, just to meet our own needs," Gary said. "This is why programming like 232 is so critical because it enables the industry to expand and provide more products to meet our own internal needs. This is Mount Holly's bright future, this is the bright future of every century, we very excited."

Call Teri Errico Griffis at 843-849-3144.

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