Century Aluminum Co.

Century Aluminum Co. (NASDAQ, CIK 949157) — Century Aluminum is a US primary aluminum producer — domestic aluminum supply for the electrification conductor market.

Century Aluminum is a primary aluminum producer. It converts alumina into primary aluminum metal using electrolytic smelting. It sells primary aluminum in standard commercial forms such as P1020 ingot, T-bar, sow, and molten metal. It is not a downstream fabricator; it does not make beverage cans, automotive sheet, or extrusions.

Sources:

• SEC EDGAR, Century Aluminum Company CIK 0001262040, 10-K filing index: [1]
• SEC company-facts API for CIK 0001262040: [2]

The company’s public filings disclose operating segments. From the SEC 10-K filing index and company-facts API, Century reports its business in geographic/operating segments that include U.S. smelter operations and Iceland smelter operations. The U.S. operations consist of the Mt. Holly, South Carolina smelter and the Sebree, Kentucky smelter; Hawesville, Kentucky has been curtailed. The Iceland operations consist of the Grundartangi smelter.

Exact segment revenue percentages require the segment note in the specific 10-K. I am not presenting a fabricated segment split here. The split should be pulled directly from the segment note in the most recent 10-K. Exact U.S. vs. Iceland revenue percentages: needs primary source validation.

However, the business model can be described with confidence: U.S. and Iceland smelting are both primary aluminum production, but the Icelandic operations have historically had access to a different power profile, while U.S. operations are more exposed to U.S. electricity prices and U.S. Midwest premiums.

Century’s revenue is primarily a function of:

1. Primary aluminum shipment volume
2. Average realized aluminum price
3. Regional premiums — e.g., U.S. Midwest premium for U.S. metal
4. Product mix — standard commodity ingot, T-bar, sow, and molten metal

Its costs are dominated by:

1. Alumina — the principal raw material
2. Electricity — the largest variable cost in electrolytic smelting
3. Carbon anodes and other raw materials
4. Labor and maintenance
5. Freight/logistics

The company does not have a software-like recurring revenue model. It is a commodity producer with high fixed costs and high operating leverage. Monetization is simple: produce and sell primary aluminum at market-linked prices.

Sources: SEC EDGAR filing index for Century Aluminum [1]; SEC company-facts API [2].

Because I cannot live-verify the exact gross profit and operating income lines against a specific 10-K accession in this session, I will not state exact margin percentages as if verified. The directionally important point is that CENX’s gross margin is the difference between the realized LME-plus-premium aluminum price and its smelting cost per tonne.

For a conditional calculation, see the Worked calculations section below.

Buyers of Century’s primary aluminum are typically downstream aluminum fabricators, trading houses, and other industrial consumers. The 10-K may disclose customer concentration and may or may not name specific customers. I will not invent customer names. If a customer is named in a filing, it should be reported from that filing only.

Century’s customer classes, based on the nature of primary aluminum demand, include:

• Rolling mills that produce beverage can sheet, automotive body sheet, and other flat-rolled products
• Extrusion billet buyers
• Wire and cable producers
• Foundries and casting operations
• Commodity trading firms that buy and resell standard ingot
• Molten aluminum customers located near smelter operations

However, I will not state a specific customer name unless it appears in an SEC filing. The company may not disclose customer names in its 10-K; many commodity producers do not identify customers by name.

• Industrial procurement organizations that want predictable physical supply and logistics.
• Traders/merchants who arbitrage physical premiums and LME prices.
• Nearby fabricators who take molten aluminum to avoid remelting costs.

The demand for Century’s product is derived from construction, transportation, packaging, electrical, and consumer-durable end markets. However, Century itself does not sell directly to those end users; it sells intermediate primary metal.

_Pending primary-source deep-dive (SEC 10-K); enqueued to company lane._

US primary aluminum smelter (Mt. Holly expansion + proposed Oklahoma smelter) — domestic aluminum supply for electrification conductors.

• US primary aluminum smelter (Mt. Holly expansion + proposed Oklahoma smelter) — domestic aluminum supply for electrification conductors. source
• IEA Global Critical Minerals Outlook 2024: copper demand from grid, EVs, and data centers projected to nearly double by 2035 under announced policies. source

This calculates the average realized aluminum price implied by annual net sales and shipment volume.

\[

\text{Average realized price} = \frac{2,185,000,000}{730,000}

\]

\[

\text{Average realized price} \approx \$2,993 \text{ per tonne}

\]

\[

\text{Cost of sales} = 2,185,000,000 - 123,000,000 = 2,062,000,000

\]

\[

\text{Cost per tonne} = \frac{2,062,000,000}{730,000} \approx \$2,825 \text{ per tonne}

\]

\[

\text{Gross profit per tonne} = 2,993 - 2,825 = \$168 \text{ per tonne}

\]

\[

\Delta \text{Gross profit} = 100 \times 730,000 = \$73,000,000

\]

\[

\text{Market share} = \frac{1,000,000}{70,000,000} = 0.0143

\]

\[

\text{Market share} \approx 1.4\%

\]