Charleston, West Virginia: Many workers returning to Constellium plant.

Constellium is preparing for trial production in 2012 for a joint project with Dassault Aviation to produce eco-efficient aluminum for aircraft. The project is part of a $2.2 billion public-private partnership in Europe aimed at reducing the aviation industry's impact on the environment.

The Constellium Rolled Products plant in Ravenswood has recalled 25 laid off employees and returned all hourly workers to full-time status as the aluminum rolling mill gears up for what officials call a "tremendous opportunity" in overseas markets.

Earlier this fall, the company — formerly known as Alcan Rolled Products — informed its employees that they would need to reduce hours for some workers as the plant underwent a significant upgrade.

With nearly 1,000 employees, the Constellium plant is the largest private employer in Jackson County and focuses primarily on producing aluminum products for the aerospace industry.

The upgrades were needed to help boost operating efficiencies at the plant, which was expected to lose about 20 cents on each pound of aluminum it shipped this year.

The Ravenswood plant was originally constructed in the 1950s by Kaiser Aluminum. Constellium announced earlier this year that it planned to invest up to $50 million in upgrading the facility.

That included major maintenance and improvements on the facility's main aluminum stretcher and furnace. However, that maintenance forced some production outages and slowdowns that led to the reduction in work hours.

Over the past few months, several workers in various departments had their hours reduced from 40 to 32 hours per week as their departments experienced slowdowns. It was originally estimated that about 400 workers would be affected by the reduction, but a company spokesperson could not confirm the final number last week.

In a letter dated Dec. 2, Constellium Global ATI CEO Christophe Villemin and Kyle Lorentzen informed workers that the hourly reductions would soon be coming to a close and the company would begin calling back some workers that had been laid off previously.

A company spokeswoman confirmed last week that the Ravenswood plant had followed through with that plan.

"We have returned to normal work weeks and have recalled 25 employees, and are pleased to have been able to do that before the holidays," said spokeswoman Laura Prisc.

The worker recall comes as the plant gears up for trial production runs for a new project in 2012.

In October, Constellium announced it was teaming up with Dassault Aviation to begin producing eco-efficient aluminum for aircraft as part of the $2.2 billion European Clean Sky Programme — a public-private partnership researching ways to reduce the aviation industry's impact on the environment.

In their letter, Villemin and Lorentzen said the new contracts the company has secured in Europe could guide the future of the Ravenswood plant.

"Our ability to successfully deliver the trial in 2012, with the required level of quality and service, is essential to the future success of Ravenswood," the letter said.

"We have a tremendous opportunity to improve our business, and to insulate it from the ups and downs of the aerospace and aluminum cycles."

Success at the Constellium plant could also lead to further good news down the road. The Ravenswood rolling mill is located next to the Century Aluminum smelting plant, which has been closed since February 2009.

The Century plant used to be the primary supplier of molten aluminum to its sister plant before it shut down. Century officials have said they would need to stability in the aluminum market and sales contracts, along with stable power and labor contracts, before they would decide to restart the plant.

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