Century Aluminum has officially marked the completion of a major expansion at its Mt. Holly smelter in South Carolina with a ribbon-cutting ceremony held on 27 July. The US$50 million investment is expected to increase domestic primary aluminium production in the United States by approximately 10% while expanding the facility’s workforce to more than 600 employees. The expansion strengthens the company’s manufacturing footprint and reinforces the role of the Mt. Holly smelter as a key producer of primary aluminium for the US market.

The ceremony was attended by several senior government and industry officials, including US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, Senior Counsellor to President Donald Trump Peter Navarro, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, and Century Aluminum Chief Executive Officer Jesse Gary. During the event, Gary highlighted that Mt. Holly has returned to full production for the first time in more than a decade, describing the achievement as an important milestone for both the company and the domestic aluminium sector.

Gary said the investment will help reduce reliance on imported aluminium by strengthening US production capacity and securing critical industrial supply chains. He also noted that the project supports hundreds of skilled manufacturing jobs while reinforcing the country’s industrial and national security objectives. Century Aluminum credited the Section 232 national security tariff on aluminium as a key factor that enabled the company to increase domestic production and invest further in its US operations.

The project is projected to more than double US primary aluminium production, create over 5,000 new jobs, contribute US$74 billion in cumulative GDP, and generate US$181 billion in total economic output through 2060, representing one of the largest investments in the history of the American aluminium industry.