Alcoa Corporation announced on Monday that the full restart of its San Ciprian aluminium smelter in Spain will be pushed to mid-2026, citing disruptions from a nationwide power blackout in April. The delay is expected to result in losses of up to $110 million.
Production at the smelter had been halted in 2021 due to soaring electricity costs. Restart efforts were underway but were interrupted when a countrywide outage on April 28 affected both the smelter and its neighbouring alumina refinery. Since March, the smelter has been operated through a joint venture between Alcoa and Ignis Equity Holdings.
The company said the outage has prompted a reassessment of the smelter’s power stability. Restart activities will remain on hold pending further assurances from the Spanish government about the grid’s reliability and the root cause of the blackout.
Alcoa now expects to incur a net loss of between $90 million and $110 million in 2025 due to the delay. This includes impacts from pre-tax and non-controlling interest items, translating to a per-share loss of $0.35 to $0.42. Associated cash used in operations is forecasted to reach $110 million to $130 million next year.
The San Ciprian facility houses both an alumina refinery and an aluminium smelter. The refinery has a capacity of 1.5 million tonnes annually and serves both internal Alcoa needs and external clients in industries such as ceramics, water purification, and chemicals. The smelter, which has a capacity of 228,000 tonnes per year, remains critical to Alcoa’s European operations.
