Export Growth
April 28, 2026
Century restarts Iceland potline
Written by Nicholas Bell
Century Aluminum resumed a potline at its Iceland smelter after an equipment outage, though trade data show little direct flow to North America.
Potline restart at Grundartangi
Century Aluminum restarted production on the second potline at its Grundartangi smelter in Iceland, several months after an electrical equipment failure forced a partial shutdown in September 2025.
The company said April 23 that it has begun energizing pots and will continue bringing capacity back on-line through the coming months. It expects to approach full production by late July. The restart follows repairs to transformers that failed for a seven-week period through September and October 2025, which had reduced output at the facility by roughly two-thirds.
Grundartangi has annual capacity of about 320,000 metric tons and operates two potlines with more than 500 pots, according to CRU’s Aluminum Smelter Power Tariffs report. The second potlines accounts for about two-thirds of the site’s total output.
North American exposure
Despite its size, the Icelandic smelter has not been a direct supplier to North America in recent trade data. The United States reported no imports of unwrought aluminum from Iceland in 2025, according to the Department of Commerce’s Aluminum Import Monitor. Canada also reported no such imports, based on Statistics Canada data.
Iceland exported about 318,000 metric tons of aluminum and aluminum products in 2025, suggesting shipments are directed primarily to other regions. Prior to the disruption, the smelter was running at full capacity in 2024, according to the company’s earnings results, which indicates the outage removed a fully utilized source of supply from the market.
As a result, the restart is unlikely to change North American supply flows in a direct way. Still, the return of capacity could affect broader Atlantic Basin availability, particularly for ingot, billet, and primary foundry alloys, which Grundartangi produces in relatively balanced volumes, according to CRU’s Aluminum Casthouse Shapes Market Outlook.
Broader company positioning
The restart comes as Century continues to evaluate its North American footprint.
The company had previously discussed building a greenfield US smelter. In January, it instead took a minority stake in Emirates Global Aluminium’s planned smelter project in Oklahoma.
Separately, Century has begun expanded production at its Mt. Holly smelter in South Carolina, which provides a more direct link to US supply.
The company said April 16 that it has started producing hot metal following an expansion project to increase US primary aluminum output by about 10%. Century indicated in prior earnings materials that the project would add roughly 44,000 metric tons of production in 2026 from 2025 totals. That figure reflects a partial year of production, with the facility expected to reach full run rates later in the year. Mt. Holly’s nameplate capacity stands at about 230,000 metric tons per year.
Historically, Mt. Holly has produced a larger share of billet relative to ingot and primary foundry alloys. However, CRU’s Aluminum Casthouse Shapes Market Outlook expects ingot to account for the largest share of output in 2026, followed by billet, with primary foundry alloys making up a smaller portion.
