By Cason Ho
Copyright abc
US aluminium giant Alcoa says there is no “sustainable” path to restarting its Kwinana refinery in Western Australia after winding down production at the facility.
Alcoa started phasing out its workforce at the Kwinana Alumina Refinery in January 2024, which one economic expert estimated would cut roughly $650 million from the state’s economy per year.
In a statement, Alcoa’s chief operations officer Matt Reed said the company had assessed the “future of the refinery, including restart and closure” since the curtailment.
“Alcoa operated the Kwinana refinery for a number of years in a challenging environment and made the difficult decision to permanently close the facility after unsuccessfully exploring multiple options for a sustainable path to restarting,” he said.
“We appreciate the dedication and support of our Kwinana employees, contractors and suppliers who have made a major contribution to Western Australia’s economic development and prosperity over more than six decades.”
The company said it would spend approximately $US890 million ($1.4 billion) on “restructuring and related charges” in the third quarter of 2025, and an additional $US600 million over the next six years on costs related to the closure.
Alcoa said the refinery had a workforce of around 800 employees at the start of 2024 before the initial shutdown of production, and that the number had been cut down to about 220 employees.
The company said most of the workforce would continue to be gradually phased out.
“Certain employees will remain beyond 2026 to prepare the site for future redevelopment,” an Alcoa statement said.
Alcoa said the Kwinana refinery represented about 16 per cent of its global refining capacity of 13.9 million tonnes, now reduced to 11.7 million tonnes.
The aluminium giant has been mining and refining alumina in WA since the 1960s.
Its announcement comes as the state’s Environmental Protection Authority assesses the company’s proposals to expand its mining operations in the world’s only jarrah forests, in WA.
