Sherwin Alumina's 1.65 million mt/year alumina refinery in Gregory, Texas, is set to close Friday, a union offial said, and the company has been given more time by a federal bankruptcy judge to wind down its operations.
The Glencore subsidiary has notified the United Steelworkers union that the refinery, Sherwin's most valuable asset, will close Friday, a union representative said Thursday.
Sherwin officials could not be immediately reached for comment. However, the company has said in recent filings in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in Corpus Christi that the refinery would close soon. The plant has been in business for decades along the Texas Gulf Coast.
In an order this week, Judge David R. Jones approved Sherwin's request to retain its exclusive right to file a Chapter 11 reorganization plan and solicit votes for the plan.
The judge said the exclusivity period to submit a plan now extends to December 31, with Sherwin having until March 1 to seek approvals of the plan.
Under a previous order, Sherwin had until September 30 to file a plan and November 29 to seek approvals for it.
In his order, the judge found the latest extension to be "in the best interests of the debtors' estates, their creditors, and other parties in interest." Sherwin filed for bankruptcy January 11.
Sherwin has said it intends to propose a reorganization plan soon with regulatory agencies that reflects the terms of the refinery closure plan and the proposed sale of its assets to Corpus Christi Alumina, an affiliate of Commodity Funding, Sherwin's senior secured lender.
CCA submitted a high bid of $54.5 million for the assets in a court-supervised auction in April.
Some 450 members of the USW have been locked out of the refinery since October 11, 2014, in a labor dispute with the company.
