Power was restored to Alcoa's petroleum coke calciner in Lake Charles, Louisiana, Wednesday and the facility was preparing for a restart after being temporarily idled earlier in the week due to Tropical Storm Harvey, a spokesman said.
Spokesman Jim Beck said the plant's kiln "is going through its restart process, the process of returning to normal operations." However, he could not predict exactly when the calciner, which restarted about a month ago following a 19-month idling, will be running again.
"The good thing is all of our plant personnel are safe," he said.
The Lake Charles facility was not damaged by the storm itself, but was shuttered Tuesday because of a "power disruption" related to the storm.
POINT COMFORT STILL BEING ASSESSED
Meanwhile, Alcoa is continuing with a storm damage assessment at its idled Point Comfort alumina refinery near Victoria, Texas. The plant's 58 "care and maintenance" workers were evacuated before Harvey roared ashore as a Category 4 hurricane near Rockport, Texas, on August 25.
Alcoa has said Lake Charles' brief idling was not expected to cause any supply problems for the company.
The calciner resumed operations in July after being idled for more than a year and a half. The plant produces green petroleum coke and supplies some of Alcoa's aluminum smelters with calcined coke, which they use to make carbon anodes, used as a carbon source in the aluminum smelting process.
The plant is expected to supply a long-idled aluminum smelter at Alcoa's Warrick Operations near Yankeetown, Indiana. Alcoa has announced plans to restart the smelter in early 2018, although United Steelworkers union officials say it could be operational by January 1.
RAIN CARBON PLANT IN LAKE CHARLES OPERATIONAL
Elsewhere on the flooded Gulf Coast, a Rain Carbon official said Wednesday the company's plant in Lake Charles, which produces calcined coke, was operating Wednesday.
The status of Oxbow's Texas City Marine Terminal, which was idled Tuesday, and the company's calciner in Port Arthur, Texas, close to where Harvey made a second landfall Wednesday was unclear.
No one answered the phone at Oxbow's headquarters in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday, or at the Port Arthur and marine terminal locations.
An Oxbow official said Tuesday the terminal was tentatively scheduled to reopen Wednesday.
