Alcoa Corp.’s Alumar smelter in São Luís, Brazil, has now energized its first 20 smelting pots as part of the ongoing restart of aluminum capacity at the location.
Alumar’s smelter is owned by Alcoa and South32 Ltd. It has three smelting lines with 710 pots. More capacity will progressively come online, with the full annual capacity of 447,000 metric tons (mt) expected to be operational by the end of 2022.
“The restart of Alumar will build on our competitive strengths in the global and local marketplace and expand our ability to supply growing demand for sustainably sourced aluminum,” Alcoa Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer John Slaven said. “We’re proud of the positive impact the restart will bring to our customers, investors, employees and community stakeholders in Brazil’s Maranhão state.”
In September 2021, Alcoa announced it would restart 268,000 mt of annual smelting capacity, which represents the company’s share at the Alumar smelter.
Alcoa Alumínio, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alcoa Corp., owns 60% of the smelting and casting capacity and South32 holds the remaining 40%.
