MX Holdings and Century Aluminum Announce Their Intent to form a New Joint Venture, Focusing on the Casting of Low Carbon Secondary Billet

ST. LOUIS and CHICAGO, March 13, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MX Holdings, a global leader in the purchasing, processing, and manufacturing of non-ferrous metals, together with Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ: CENX) (“Century”), a global producer of primary aluminum, have entered a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a new joint venture focusing on the manufacture and marketing of low-carbon secondary billet. This new organization will deliver expertly engineered and technically advanced alloys, composed of increasingly high levels of recycled content produced with low-carbon processes.

“We are excited to embark on this endeavor with Century – a partner whose business strategy and expertise complement our own and whose team shares our values and people-centric culture. By pairing our collective focus on customer service with a state-of-the-art facility, cutting edge processes, and advanced technical expertise, billet produced by the joint venture will not only deliver exceptional quality and performance, but will enable our customers to achieve their sustainability objectives more effectively” says Matt Rohm, CEO of MX Holdings, parent company to Metal Exchange and Pennex.

“In addition to the joint venture’s offering, we plan to continue to produce billet at our existing, wholly owned Pennex facilities. Each company will produce various alloys to meet specific customer needs.”

Mr. Rohm added, “Most importantly, we're excited about the opportunities this venture brings to make a positive impact for our industry and our customers.”

Leadership teams at MX Holdings and Century are well-aligned, “Century is pleased to be partnering with another American company - MX Holdings - to establish a new entity serving the automotive and general extrusion industries," said Matt Aboud, Century’s Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development. 

"Expansion into scrap recycling has been a long-term strategic focus for Century but finding the right partners and opportunities are critical to the success of that strategy," continued Mr. Aboud. "We believe MX Holding’s scrap knowledge and extrusion expertise coupled with Century’s value-added-production capabilities are a compelling combination. By leveraging the strengths of Century and MX Holdings, we believe this joint venture can deliver a differentiated value proposition to customers looking for next generation extrusion products and offer an alternative source in this fast-growing segment.

We expect to begin initial production in 2026, ultimately scaling output to 250 million pounds per year. This new venture will be the largest American-owned secondary billet supplier, worldwide. The leadership team is currently considering several locations for the facility in the Ohio Valley region.

About MX Holdings
Celebrating 50 years of business in 2024, MX Holdings is a global leader in the purchasing, processing, and manufacturing of aluminum. Enabled by their breadth of experience and deep expertise, they deliver world class products and services to customers across a family of brands – including Metal Exchange and Pennex. MX Holdings corporate headquarters is in St. Louis, MO, with 12 additional offices and manufacturing facilities globally. Visit mxholdings.com for more information.

About Century Aluminum Company
Century Aluminum Company owns and operates primary aluminum facilities in the United States and Iceland. Century's corporate offices are located in Chicago, IL. Visit www.centuryaluminum.com for more information.  

Cautionary Statement

This press release contains statements that relate to future events and expectations and are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "believe," "expect," "hope," "target," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "seek," "estimate," "potential," "project," "scheduled," "forecast" or words of similar meaning, or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," "might," or "may” often identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding our assumptions, projections, forecasts, or outlooks regarding future market trends and/or strategic projects and efforts. These statements do not guarantee future performance and speak only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Where we express an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is expressed in good faith and is believed to have a reasonable basis. However, our forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties which may cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by those forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results and events to differ from those described in such forward-looking statements can be found in the risk factors and forward-looking statements cautionary language contained in Century Aluminum Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and in other filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Although we have attempted to identify material factors that could cause actual results or events to differ from those described in such forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that could cause actual results or events to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. Given these uncertainties, investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements.

Contacts
Ryan Crawford
Century Aluminum - Investors and Media
312-696-3132

Allison Schiller
MX Holdings - Vice President, Marketing and Communications
314-542-7226