A U.S. aluminum smelter was acquired by a tech company due to high energy costs.

Although Trump raised the import tariff on aluminum to 50% last year, it still failed to prevent the loss of another aluminum smelter in the United States. Century Aluminum suspended production at its smelter in Hawesville in 2022 due to a surge in energy prices caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The company had originally planned to resume operations within a year after electricity prices dropped. However, electricity prices did not decrease, and Century Aluminum has now sold the site in Kentucky to the digital infrastructure company TeraWulf. As a result, the United States is left with only five primary metal production plants. Aluminum smelters consume massive amounts of energy, with a modern smelter using more electricity than a city the size of Boston. Data centers also consume a lot of energy, and in the long-term power struggle, large technology companies are prepared to pay higher costs.

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Original article: toutiao.com/article/1857531934978059/

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