Corpus Christi Alumina, a company created by Commodity Funding, an affiliate of Sherwin Alumina’s parent corporation Glencore, this week submitted a successful bid to purchase the Sherwin plant and its assets for $54.5 million.
This outcome was one that we long anticipated. Since its Chapter 11 filing in January, Glencore has attempted to manipulate the bankruptcy process to retain control of the facility while attempting to shed as many of its financial obligations as possible. Corpus Christi Alumina’s bid includes a sum of $4.5 million to make small payments to a far larger pool of creditor claims. The deal will be included in a reorganization plan that should be filed soon. Your union will carefully review that plan and object to any abusive provisions.
Even with Glencore’s shell-game, the future of the plant remains highly uncertain. Management told the union in February that it would shut the plant because it didn’t have a power agreement, and it still doesn’t have a long-term power contract. Additionally, the company has no long-term bauxite commitments because the court in Noranda Aluminum’s bankruptcy case terminated that contract.