Data center power competition blocks domestic smelting capacity expansion

Efforts to ramp up domestic primary aluminum production in the U.S. to offset current deficits have stalled due to intense power grid competition from tech data center build-outs. Major primary producers like Alcoa and Century Aluminium are selling shuttered assets directly to tech firms rather than reviving energy-intensive smelting lines. This locks in the structural domestic supply deficit, driving buyers toward import reliance.