Atalco secures additional $100M for US refinery expansion

The USA’s Department of War (DoW) has invested an additional $100 million in the Atlantic Alumina (Atalco) refinery in Gramercy, Louisiana.

The DoW Office of the Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy, in partnership with the Economic Defense Unit (EDU), has made a $100 million follow-on preferred equity investment in Atalco through the Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment (IBAS) programme.

This latest action brings the Department's total investment in Atalco to $400 million.

Furthermore, the DoW's funding has catalysed $350 million in parallel investments from Atalco's current backers, with an additional $50 million expected within the next 75 days, bringing total third-party investments to $400 million.

These collective strategic investments, totalling $800 million, aim to secure the alumina refinery and restore its capacity to 1.2 million tonnes of alumina per year.

Michael Cadenazzi, Assistant Secretary of War for Industrial Base Policy, said: “Our national defence strategy relies on a robust and self-sufficient industrial base.

“Investing in Atalco ensures the United States maintains its domestic alumina refining capability, mitigating a critical supply chain risk, and protecting our military readiness from foreign interference.”

The investment will also preserve approximately 875 direct jobs across refining, mining, logistics, and port operations, including 530 refinery employees.

The Gramercy facility converts imported bauxite into domestically refined alumina, accounting for roughly 55% of domestic alumina demand.

It serves as a critical feedstock for aluminium production across the US economy, supplying Century Aluminum smelters in Kentucky, the Mt. Holly smelter in South Carolina, and manufacturing facilities across Texas, North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, and Mississippi.

In addition, the DoW requires 200,000 tonnes of metallurgical aluminium annually.

While Atalco currently satisfies 60% of this demand, the investment will scale production to fulfil 142% of the Department's projected demand by 2029.

With 99.3% of the refinery's output dedicated to national security subsectors, the project also reduces the US reliance on foreign supply chains.

Without this near-term investment, financial and operational stresses would likely force the closure of both the refinery and its affiliated mining operations.