Alcoa plans for business as usual at Wagerup despite Kwinana closure

Alcoa has said production at the Wagerup refinery is not expected to be impacted by the curtailment of the Kwinana alumina refinery.

The United States mining company broke the news of Kwinana’s closure on January 8, stating the plant will reduce the 1200-strong workforce to 50 by the end of 2025.

An Alcoa spokesperson said there are no current plans to increase the Wagerup refinery’s production to compensate for the closure.

“Production at Wagerup refinery is not expected to be impacted by the curtailment at Kwinana,” they said.

In its announcement of the closure, Alcoa’s executive vice-president and chief operations officer, Matt Reed, said it will work closely with employees transitioning to new opportunities.

“This includes potential redeployment within our business or assistance to facilitate employment at other workplaces,” he said.

An Alcoa spokesperson said redeployment opportunities for impacted Kwinana employees to other parts of the business will be investigated, however, this is not expected to result in significant changes at Wagerup.