Aluminium maker Alcoa seeks to sell 10 sites to data centres

Feb 24 (Reuters) - U.S. aluminium ‌company Alcoa ​Corp ​is looking to sell 10 of its closed or curtailed sites to the data centre industry, with the ‌first sale set to be completed by the end ⁠of June, its CEO said on Tuesday.

Aluminium producers, which need electricity for ‌the energy-intensive smelting process, face ‌stiff competition for supplies from power-hungry data centres, but the upsurge in demand also creates an opportunity to sell stakes ​in some sites chosen because of their proximity to plentiful energy sources.

Alcoa rival Century Aluminum this month sold its ⁠idled Hawesville smelting site to a data centre firm, retaining a 6.8% stake.

"We have 10 ​sites that we're focused on selling into that space," Alcoa CEO Bill Oplinger said at the BMO ​Global Metals, Mining and Critical Minerals ‌Conference in Florida. "We think we'll have the first sale in the first half of this year. ⁠There are two that could follow quickly after that."

HOW MUCH EXTRA VALUE COULD THERE BE?

Oplinger said Alcoa had historically looked to maximise value ⁠and minimise liabilities when selling assets. The question now is how much difference ​the advent of AI will mean to valuations.

"What we're really trying to understand is the value in a data centre world or an AI ‌world of our individual sites," he said.

Oplinger said high aluminium prices had not destroyed demand in ‌the U.S., but low prices for raw material alumina have left ⁠50% of refineries globally ‌cash negative. He said ​this would lead to cutbacks in alumina production, although not from Alcoa.

(Reporting by Tom Daly; editing by ‌Barbara Lewis)

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