MONTEREY, Calif. - Century Aluminum is continuing its efforts to retart the Ravenswood plant, according to a statement by the president and chief executive officer in the company's second-quarter 2012 financial statement.
The company is negotiating electrical utility agreements to ensure its competitiveness, said Michael Bless, president and chief executive officer.
"We are continuing in our aggressive efforts to secure electric power arrangements which will provide for the long-term competitiveness of our U.S. plants," Bless said. "This process has yielded good results at Mt. Holly and continues in earnest at Hawesville.
"We have maintained our determined efforts to restart our Ravenswood plant, and are now in detailed discussions with the Public Service Commission and other key constituencies regarding an enabling power contract," Bless said. "We believe restarting the plant will be an attractive investment for our shareholders."
Century Aluminum this week reported a net loss of $12.3 million for the second quarter of 2012, down from the $24 million in net income from 2011.
The financial results were impacted by an unrealized net gain on forward contracts of $1.8 million primarily related to the mark to market of aluminum price protection options.
Sales for the second quarter of 2012 were $323.6 million, compared with $366.3 million for the second quarter of 2011. Shipments of primary aluminum for the 2012 second quarter were 160,828 tonnes, compared with 151,483 tonnes shipped in the year-ago quarter.
"We have witnessed a weakening of global economic conditions and sentiment during the past several months," Bless said. "The sovereign and banking crisis in the Eurozone, coupled with a deceleration of growth in China and other emerging economies, has weighed on prices of commodities and similar assets. Though we have yet to see any meaningful deterioration in our U.S. customer markets, we are closely watching the situation. Within this present weak environment, we continue to believe the fundamentals of the aluminum sector foreshadow more favorable conditions over the longer term."
For the first half of 2012, the company reported a net loss of $16.7 million (19 cents per basic and diluted share). First half results were negatively impacted by an unrealized net loss on forward contracts of $3.2 million primarily related to the mark to market of aluminum price protection options. Cost of sales for the first half included an $11.6 million benefit for lower of cost or market inventory adjustments.
This result compares to net income of $49.0 million (48 cents per basic and diluted share) for the first half of 2011. Results for the prior six-month period were negatively impacted by a $7.7 million charge related to the contractual impact of the changes in the company's Board of Directors and the executive management team; a charge of $2.9 million related to an insurance receivable; an unrealized net loss on forward contracts of $6.2 million, primarily related to the marking to market of aluminum price protection options; and a charge of $0.8 million related to the early retirement of debt.
Changes to the Century of West Virginia retiree medical benefits program increased first half results by $18.3 million with an associated discrete tax benefit of $4.2 million. Cost of sales for the first six months of 2011 included an $8.6 million charge related to the restart of a curtailed potline at the Hawesville, Ky. smelter.
Sales in the first six months of 2012 were $649.8 million compared with $692.6 million in the same period of 2011. Shipments of primary aluminum for the first six months of 2012 were 320,795 tonnes compared with 295,661 tonnes for the comparable 2011 period.
