Bankrupt US aluminum producer Noranda Aluminum lost nearly $12 million in June as sales dipped that month, increasing its overall losses to more than $54 million since it filed for Chapter 11 federal bankruptcy reorganization on February 8, according to a new court filing.
The Franklin, Tennessee-based company told the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Missouri in St. Louis this week that June sales totaled $72.1 million, or about $1.5 million less than $73.6 million in May.
While June sales fell, the cost of sales rose, to $67.4 million from $66.8 million in May.
As a result, Noranda recorded a $11.9 million loss in June, more than double its May loss of $5.1 million.
Noranda reported it had $22.2 million of cash on hand at the end of June, down from $31.1 million at the close of May.
In a July 7 court-approved auction, Swedish aluminum rolled products producer Granges submitted the highest bid of $309.7 million to acquire Noranda's downstream operations, consisting of three aluminum rolling mills in Arkansas, Tennessee and North Carolina, with total capacity of 495 million lb/year.
The sale is expected to close by the end of August.
Noranda also is seeking to sell its upstream business, which includes the idled 263,000 mt/year New Madrid primary aluminum smelter in Missouri, 1.2 million mt/y Gramercy alumina refinery in Burnside, Louisiana, and its St. Ann bauxite mining operation in Jamaica.
