Alcoa’s Portland smelter staff told to ‘take rest of month off’

Aluminium production at Alcoa’s Portland smelter is not likely to begin its slow recovery until early next year, amid lingering questions over the plant’s long-term viability.

As many as two-thirds of the workforce at the Victorian smelter, 350km southwest of Melbourne, have been directed to take the rest of the month off while work continues to assess and repair damage from the December 1 power outage that caused potlines to solidify with cooling metal.

Australian Workers Union state secretary Ben Davis said the blackout damage had slashed the plant’s 400-odd pot capacity by three-quarters, with jackhammers being used to salvage pots where possible by prising out hardened metal.

“Some of them can be repaired, some of them can be relined and some of them will need to be replaced,” said Mr Davis. “In terms of the productive capacity, some of it they will be able to get up within a couple of weeks but they won’t be able to get it all up.”

An Alcoa spokesman said no timelines for production recovery were publicly available, with production on one potline halted and a portion of the other line still ?operating.

“We’re still doing the assessments we need to do,” he said.

The partial shutdown is reported to be costing more than $1 million revenue daily with warnings the damage could take three and six months to completely repair.

Analysts assess the Portland smelter is at risk of closing because of the termination of a government electricity subsidy, coupled with low aluminium prices and rising energy prices. Mr Davis said the smelter had last suffered a relatively large breakdown about 10 years ago when fluoride contamination affected 40 pots.

“So they’re reasonably experienced in getting pots back on line and it’s happened around the world before, but this is the first time I know that an aluminium smelter in Australia has lost power for that long,” he said.