Second-Largest U.S. Aluminum Mill Idles Due to ‘Untenable’ Energy Prices, Laying Off 600 American Workers

https://www.breitbart.com/poli...costs-aluminum-mill/

The second largest aluminum mill in the United States has idled operations, laying off about 600 American workers, due to “untenable” electricity and energy prices.

In June, Century Aluminum Co. executives announced that they would idle the Hawesville, Kentucky aluminum mill for about 9 to 12 months as a result of skyrocketing prices to merely keep the plant’s lights on.

Similarly, executives with two steel mills are suspending operations because they cannot afford the costs of energy to keep the plants open. This comes after executives warned federal regulators about debilitating energy prices months ago.

Bloomberg reported:

On June 22, 600 workers at the second-largest aluminum mill in America, accounting for 20% of US supply, learned they were losing their jobs because the plant can’t afford an electricity tab that’s tripled in a matter of months. Century Aluminum Co. says it’ll idle the Hawesville, Kentucky, mill for as long as a year, taking out the biggest of its three US sites. A shutdown like this can take a month as workers carefully swirl the molten metal into storage so it doesn’t solidify in pipes and vessels and turn the entire facility into a useless brick. Restarting takes another six to nine months. For this reason, owners don’t halt operations unless they’ve exhausted all other options. [Emphasis added]

…

At least two steel mills have begun suspending some operations to cut energy costs, according to one industry executive, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. In May, a group of factories across the US Midwest warned federal energy regulators that some were on the verge of closing for the summer or longer because of what they described as “unjust and unreasonable” electricity costs. They asked to be wholly absolved of some power fees—a request that, if granted, would be unprecedented. [Emphasis added]

During an earnings call this week, Century Aluminum Co. CEO Jesse Gary said the temporary closure of Hawesville — which resulted in the layoffs of about 600 American workers — was a result of “untenable” energy prices.

“Elevated energy prices also resulted in an unfortunate decision to curtail our Hawesville operations,” Gary said:

While this decision was difficult, it was necessary given relatively high energy consumption of the Hawesville smelting technology and lack of value-added casthouses, which made the financial economics of continuing to run the smelter untenable at these energy prices. The curtailment was conducted in a manner that will allow for the restart of the smelter, if and when market conditions return to more normal accommodating levels. [Emphasis added]

Similarly, the Alcoa Corporation announced in July “that it will begin the process to immediately curtail one of three operating smelting lines” at its Warrick, Indiana, plant.

This comes after Alcoa shuttered the Warrick Operations smelter in 2016 under the Obama administration as a result of cheap, subsidized Chinese aluminum flooding into the U.S. market. Those operations later reopened in 2017 under the Trump administration.

The energy industry is also headed for major layoffs and plant closures.

At least six coal-fired plants in Wisconsin, Indiana, Nebraska, and New Mexico are expected to shut down operations by 2026. Some are planning to close as early as 2024, leaving thousands of Americans laid off and out of work.

Radical environmentalists at the Sierra Group have long celebrated the closure of coal-fired plants and Americans losing their jobs. According to the organization, almost 360 coal-fired plants have shuttered or are in the process of shuttering in the last few years, while just about 170 remain operating.

I love this woman:

quote:

Lauren Boebert
@laurenboebert

US House candidate, CO-03

The White House is a bit confused.
The inflation rate isn't at 0%, that's Biden's approval rating.

6:57 AM · Aug 11, 2022·Twitter for iPhone

With prices up and output down, Biden’s boast of ‘0% inflation’ is beyond parody

So, if aluminum plants shut down, what are they going to make these electric cars out of?

I'm sure everyone remembers "Angry orange man bad" from a few years ago.

It's amazing we aren't seeing "Angry old man bad". In fact you have to go offshore to see it.

Or all of the current and former generals and admirals that were so concerned about the Constitution that they had to speak up

They are all now silent.

another Kamala Harris video

https://twitter.com/i/status/1559194005241577472

Who is writing this nonsense ?

^^^ It might be kind of difficult to answer that question given the turnover in her office.

https://www.breitbart.com/poli...-donald-trumps-home/

President Joe Biden is planning on hosting a “unity summit” to bring together Republicans and Democrats at the White House after the FBI raided former President Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced Biden’s plan to host the summit in a statement on Friday, noting the president wanted to “counter the corrosive effects of hate-fueled violence on our democracy and public safety.”

“The United We Stand Summit will bring together heroes from across America who are leading historic work in their communities to build bridges and address hate and division, including survivors of hate-fueled violence,” she wrote.

The White House stressed they wanted both Democrat and Republican public officials to attend, as well as civil rights organizations, faith and community leaders, technology and business leaders, and law enforcement officials. It is unclear which Republicans will be invited to attend or speak.

The priorities of the unity summit were outlined by Biden’s domestic policy adviser, Susan Rice

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

nothing like a unity summit by Susan Rice

I guess Liz Cheney would be available

Ridiculous and meaningless

quote:

Originally posted by sdy:
President Joe Biden is planning on hosting a “unity summit”

Good grief, how much will We the People pay for that?

Susan Rice, the BITCH of Benghazi. So, this “Unity Summit” will be led/organized by a known serial liar…

It'll be interesting to see which, if any, Republicans consider attendance something other than a political kiss of death.

On the other hand, Uncah Ho is making enough noise about this to leave one wondering what hateful and divisive moves they have in store for us next. I'm worried that at some level they're actually jealous of Trudeau.

No matter what, the so called “unity summit” is an attack on conservatives. Either they will be branded as being against “unity” by not attending, or branded as against “unity” for not being in complete agreement with leftist democRAT ideals. It’s a lose-lose situation.

The right way to approach this is to demand things as a show of faith to make it worth attending. DemocRATs are to start following federal law. That they stop facilitating the invasion on the southern border. That they stop choking Americans with their self manufactures bullshit gas shortage crisis and rampant inflation. And so on and so on.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
No matter what, the so called “unity summit” is an attack on conservatives. Either they will be branded as being against “unity” by not attending, or branded as against “unity” for not being in complete agreement with leftist democRAT ideals. It’s a lose-lose situation.

And this is usually where I get very disgusted and angry with Republicans as they cower and hide under their desks because of the big bad Dem's and their mean attacks. If you're going to be attacked regardless the position you opt to take, then take the right one that a majority of the country supports and go on the offensive. This is political warfare and the cowards and/or uni-party members in Congress need to be sent packing and replaced with people who are both aggressive and undeterred by BS slung at them by liberal garbage. Its way past time to start playing this game to win, and if that creates carnage along the way, so be it.

quote:

go on the offensive

Reason number 5 of why I miss President Trump

I too wish these cowards would grow a pair

Oh, they've got a pair. They're just focused on showing it the wrong way - against us rather than for us. On the other hand, I think we're all going to enjoy Liz Cheney's retirement, so it might be fun to send a few Establishment types to join her if we can in the next set of primaries.

4.9 Million Illegal Aliens Crossed US Border in 18 Months Since Biden Took Office:
https://www.theepochtimes.com/...bhJ0DdptgqCffG8W8Etl

Nearly 5 million illegal immigrants have crossed U.S. borders in the 18 months since President Joe Biden took office, according to a new report.

A total of 4.9 million illegal aliens, including some 900,000 “gotaways” who evaded apprehension and have since disappeared into American communities, have entered the country by the end of July, the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) said in a statement on Aug. 16.

“Roughly the equivalent of the entire population of Ireland has illegally entered the United States in the 18 months President Biden has been in office, with many being released into American communities,” FAIR President Dan Stein said in the press release.

He blamed Biden for putting the unprecedented surge down to external factors, not the administration’s own “sabotage” of immigration laws. After rolling back key Trump-era policies, Biden presided over the largest number of apprehensions of illegal immigrants at the U.S.–Mexico border in a calendar year in history, recording almost 1.9 million arrests last year.

“The endless flow of illegal aliens and the incursion of lethal narcotics pouring across our border will not end until this administration demonstrates a willingness to enforce our laws,” Stein said.

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

New Surge
Two million illegal aliens have entered the country in the first 10 months of this financial year, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). In June, more than 207,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended attempting to cross the U.S.–Mexico border, making this the highest number of June apprehensions in history.

Although July saw a slim decline in CBP encounters at the southwest border of nearly 200,000, it turned out to be the 17th straight month with more than 150,000 encounters, representing a 325 percent increase over the average number of July apprehensions under the Trump administration, the statement reads.

Among the over 213,000 illegal aliens deported from the border in July, only 37 percent of the arrests led to expulsions under Title 42—a 7 percent drop from last month. Border agents processed the majority of the rest under Title 8, which oftentimes lets illegal aliens be released into the U.S. interior while their cases sit in backlogged immigration courts.

The Biden administration announced it would end the Trump-era Title 42, a border policy put in place on public health grounds amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which it had been forced to keep in place owing to a lack of notice.

CBP also reported 10 individuals on the FBI’s terror watchlist were apprehended in July between ports of entry at the southwest border, pushing the total for the current fiscal year to 66.

Meanwhile, CPB seized 2,130 pounds of the synthetic opioid fentanyl last month, more than three times that intercepted in June, and topping the previous monthly record of nearly 1,300 pounds set in April.

It nearly equals the total amount of fentanyl confiscated throughout 2019.

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