KAISER ALUMINUM CORP - Annual Report: 2022 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

For the transition period from to

Commission File Number: 1-09447

KAISER ALUMINUM CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

(629) 252-7040

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities Registered Pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act:

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☒

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant as of the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter (June 30, 2022) was approximately $1.2 billion.

As of February 20, 2023, there were 15,940,756 shares of the Common Stock of the registrant outstanding.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

Forward-Looking Statements

This Annual Report on Form 10-K (this “Report”) contains statements which constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), as applicable. These statements appear throughout this Report, including Item 1. “Business – Business Operations,” Item 1A. “Risk Factors” and Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “believes,” “expects,” “may,” “estimates,” “will,” “should,” “plans” or “anticipates,” or the negative of the foregoing or other variations or comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy.

Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve significant risks and uncertainties and that actual results may vary from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. These factors include: (i) the effectiveness of management’s strategies and decisions, including strategic investments, capital spending strategies, processes and countermeasures implemented to address operational and supply chain challenges and the execution of those strategies; (ii) general economic and business conditions, including the impact of geopolitical factors and governmental and other actions taken in response, cyclicality, reshoring, labor challenges, supply interruptions, such as the most recent disruptions experienced with our molten metal and magnesium supply chain, and other conditions that impact demand drivers in the aerospace/high strength, aluminum beverage and food packaging, general engineering, automotive and other end markets we serve; (iii) our ability to participate in mature and anticipated new automotive programs expected to launch in the future and successfully launch new automotive programs; (iv) changes or shifts in defense spending due to competing national priorities; (v) pricing, market conditions and our ability to effectively execute commercial and labor strategies, pass through cost increases, including the institution of surcharges, and flex costs in response to changing economic conditions, volatile commodity costs and inflation; (vi) developments in technology; (vii) the impact of our future earnings, cash flows, financial condition, capital requirements and other factors on our financial strength and flexibility; (viii) new or modified statutory or regulatory requirements; (ix) the successful integration of acquired operations and technologies; (x) stakeholder’s, including regulator’s, views regarding our environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) goals and initiatives, and the impact of factors outside of our control on such goals and initiatives; and (xi) other factors discussed in Item 1A. “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Report. No assurance can be given that these are all of the factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from the forward-looking statements.

Readers are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating any forward-looking statements and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included herein are made only as of the date of this Report and we undertake no obligation to update or revise any information contained in this Report or to publicly release any revisions to any forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances that occur, or that we become aware of, after the date of this Report except as required by law.

Item 1. Business

Availability of Information

We file Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, Proxy Statements, any amendments to those reports and statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). You may obtain the documents that we file electronically from the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov. Our filings with the SEC are made available free of charge on our website at http://www.kaiseraluminum.com as soon as reasonably practicable after we file or furnish the materials with the SEC. News releases, announcements of upcoming earnings calls and events in which our management participates or hosts with members of the investment community and an archive of webcasts of such earnings calls and investor events and related investor presentations, are also available on our website. Information on our website is not incorporated into this Report unless expressly noted.

Business Overview

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, a Delaware corporation, manufactures and sells semi-fabricated specialty aluminum mill products for the following end market applications: (i) aerospace and high strength (“Aero/HS products”); (ii) beverage and food packaging products (“Packaging”); (iii) general engineering (“GE products”); (iv) automotive (“Automotive Extrusions”); and (v) other industrial (“Other products”). Our fabricated aluminum mill products include flat-rolled (plate, sheet and coil), extruded (rod, bar, hollows and shapes), drawn (rod, bar, pipe, tube and wire) and certain cast aluminum products. The sophistication of our products is due to the metallurgy and physical properties of the metal and the special characteristics that are required for particular end uses. We strategically choose to serve technically challenging applications for which we can deploy our core metallurgical and process technology capabilities to produce highly engineered mill products with differentiated characteristics that present opportunities for us

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to receive premium pricing and to create long-term profitable growth. A fundamental part of our business model is to remain neutral to the impact from fluctuations in the market price for aluminum and certain alloys, thereby earning profit predominately from the conversion of aluminum into semi-fabricated mill products. We refer to this as “metal price neutrality.” See “Pricing, Metal Price Risk Management and Hedging” section below for more details.

With respect to the global market for flat-rolled aluminum mill products, our focus is on heat treat plate and sheet for applications that require higher strength and other desired product attributes that cannot be achieved by common alloy rolled products. The primary end market applications of flat-rolled heat treat plate and sheet are Aero/HS products (which we sell globally) and GE products (which we predominantly sell within North America). On March 31, 2021, with the completion of our acquisition of Alcoa Warrick LLC and certain assets comprising the aluminum casting and rolling mill facility located in Warrick County, Indiana (collectively, “Warrick”), we expanded our flat‑rolled aluminum products to include bare and coated aluminum coil for can stock applications in the beverage and food packaging industry in North America. Our Packaging products require demanding attributes and can be further processed to include coating and slitting depending on customer specifications.

Similarly, in the areas of extruded and drawn aluminum mill products, our focus is on Aero/HS products, GE products and Automotive Extrusions for demanding applications that require high strength, machinability or other specific properties where we can create and maintain a defensible competitive position because of our technical expertise, strong production capability and high product quality. We primarily serve North American demand for extruded and drawn aluminum mill products.

Our rolling mill in Spokane, Washington (“Trentwood”) produces heat treat plate and sheet for aerospace and general engineering end market applications and our Warrick facility produces bare and coated aluminum coil used for can stock applications in the beverage and food packaging industry. Our 11 extrusion/drawing facilities, 10 of which are in the United States and one of which is in Canada, serve aerospace, general engineering or automotive applications. Our facility located in Columbia, New Jersey focuses on multi-material advanced manufacturing methods and techniques which include multi-axis computer numerical control (“CNC”) machining, additive manufacturing (“3D Printing”), welding and fabrication for demanding aerospace and defense, high tech and general industrial and automotive applications. In 2022, our consolidated Net sales totaled $3,427.9 million on 1,254.2 million pounds shipped from our facilities.

We purchase primary, rolling ingot and scrap, or recycled, aluminum, our main raw material, and alloys at prices that fluctuate on a monthly basis, and our pricing policies generally allow us to pass the underlying index cost (see “Raw Materials” section below) of aluminum and certain alloys through to our customers so that we remain neutral to metal pricing. However, for some of our higher margin products sold on a spot basis, competitive dynamics may limit the amount and/or delay the timing of selling price increases to recover our increased aluminum and alloy costs, resulting in a lag up to several months during which we may be exposed to metal price risk. As a result, we can experience an adverse impact when aluminum and alloy prices increase and a favorable impact to us when aluminum and alloy prices decline, as we and our competitors tend to defer adjusting pricing unless market dynamics require such in a declining metal cost environment. We may also enter into firm-price customer sales agreements that specify a firm underlying metal price plus a conversion price. Spot sales with lagged aluminum and alloy price pass through and firm-price sales agreements create price exposure for us, which we mitigate through hedging and related programs with an objective to remain metal price neutral. Additionally, we have certain contracts that may adjust certain alloy prices for a forward period based on an average prior period cost for such alloys. As a result, until the selling price resets, we can experience an adverse impact when alloy prices increase and a favorable impact when alloy prices decrease.

We further strive to enhance our margins through the efficient use of scrap or recycled aluminum. As scrap aluminum is usually purchased at a discount to the index price of aluminum at which we sell at, we can generate additional margins by increasing our utilization of scrap. However, as scrap aluminum availability and the discount to the index price at which it is sold is subject to market dynamics, in periods of lower availability, we may experience adverse impacts to our results and favorable impacts when scrap is more readily available. Furthermore, due to manufacturing requirements, supply chain disruptions or rapid changes in market demands for our products, we may not be able to utilize scrap efficiently, thereby causing an adverse impact to our margins, which we refer to as an inventory imbalance.

We have long-standing relationships with our customers, which consist primarily of blue-chip companies, including leading aerospace and automotive manufacturers, tier one aerospace and automotive suppliers, beverage and food packaging manufacturers and metal service centers. Approximately 73% of our shipments is sold direct to manufacturers or tier one suppliers and approximately 27% is sold to metal service centers. In our served markets, we seek to be the supplier of choice by pursuing “Best in Class” customer satisfaction driven by quality, availability, service and delivery performance. We believe we differentiate our product portfolio through our broad product offering and our KaiserSelect® products, which are engineered and manufactured to deliver enhanced product characteristics with improved consistency, so as to result in better performance, lower waste and, in many cases, lower production cost for our customers.

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We further strive to enhance the efficiency of product flow to our customers and our status as a supplier of choice by tightly integrating the management of our operations across multiple production facilities, product lines and target markets. Additionally, our strategy to be the supplier of choice and a low cost producer is enabled by a culture of continuous improvement that is facilitated by the Kaiser Production System (“KPS”), an integrated application of tools such as Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma and Total Productive Manufacturing. Using KPS, we seek to continuously reduce our own manufacturing costs and eliminate waste throughout the value chain.

A key component of our business model is to maintain financial strength and flexibility through the business and economic cycles. We manage and monitor our financial strength through routine analysis of our liquidity position under scenarios of varying business and economic cycles. We also prioritize our capital allocation toward organic growth, such as efficiencies and quality in each of our end markets, while maintaining a strong balance sheet for inorganic opportunities and market growth potential and providing return to shareholders. Details of these capital projects are discussed in Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this Report under the caption, “Liquidity and Capital Resources.”

Products

Overview

Our business focuses on producing rolled, extruded and drawn aluminum products used principally for aerospace and defense, aluminum beverage and food packaging, general engineering and automotive products that include consumer durables, electronics and products for electrical and machinery and equipment applications. Our engineers, metallurgists and sales personnel work collaboratively with our customers to help our customers design products for challenging applications where product performance is critical. Furthermore, our Centers for Excellence, dedicated research and development centers devoted to product performance enhancement and process development within our production operations, are focused on: (i) controlling the manufacturing process; (ii) maximizing the use of recycled aluminum; (iii) improving product quality; and (iv) ensuring consistency and enhanced product attributes. See “Selected Operational and Financial Information” within Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this Report for selected shipment and sales information for our fabricated aluminum products by end market application.

We believe aluminum is highly sustainable because it is infinitely recyclable and the recycling process requires significantly less energy compared with the original mining and refining process. Our highly engineered solutions contribute to reduced carbon emissions by enabling improved performance of consumer products, light‑weighting in applications such as aircraft and transportation for fuel efficiency and increasing the use of recyclable aluminum beverage and food packaging. Overall, we remain focused on providing products that meet the needs of our customers for demanding applications while being part of the carbon solution for “Best in Class” customer satisfaction.

Aero/HS Products. Our Aero/HS products include heat treat plate and sheet, hard alloy extruded shapes, cold finish rod and bar, seamless drawn tube and billet used for a wide variety of end uses in the global aerospace and defense industries. Typical applications are structural aircraft components that must perform consistently under extreme variations in temperature and pressure due to frequent take-offs, landings and changes in altitude. Required physical properties include high tensile strength, superior fatigue resistance and exceptional durability even in harsh environments. We use high-strength 2000- and 7000-series alloys and apply a variety of thermal practices to manufacture our Aero/HS products to meet the demanding specifications required for such safety-critical applications. While competing materials such as titanium and composites have displaced aluminum for certain applications on several newer aircraft designs, aluminum continues to be the material used most extensively for structural aerospace and defense applications because it is light weight, can meet demanding performance requirements and is cost effective relative to other materials.

Packaging. Our Packaging products consist of bare and coated 3000- and 5000-series alloy aluminum coil used in the beverage and food packaging industry, with applications that include coated food stock, coated end and tab stock, body stock and bottle stock. Our Warrick rolling mill is one of four major aluminum rolling mills currently dedicated to the packaging industry in North America, with one of the world’s largest ingot casting facilities, hot and cold rolling, coated finishing and slitting capacity. The Warrick rolling mill has a unique capability to produce high-margin coated packaging products representing approximately 64% of our total Packaging shipments.

GE Products. Our broad portfolio of GE products consists primarily of 6000-series alloy plate, sheet, rod, bar, tube, wire and standard extruded shapes. The 6000-series alloy is an extremely versatile, medium-strength, heat treatable alloy that can be both extruded and rolled. Our GE products have a wide range of uses and applications, many of which involve further fabrication for numerous transportation and other industrial end market applications where machining of plate, rod and bar is intensive. For example, our GE products are used to produce armor for military vehicles, ordnances, manufacturing cells for semiconductor production,

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numerous electronic devices, after-market motor sport parts, tooling plate, parts for machinery and equipment, bolts, screws, nails and rivets.

Automotive Extrusions. Automotive Extrusions consist of extruded aluminum products for many North American automotive applications. Examples of the variety of extruded products that we supply to the automotive industry include extruded products for the body-in-white structural components, crash management systems, anti-lock braking systems and drawn tube for drive shafts. For some Automotive Extrusions, we perform limited fabrication, including sawing and cutting to length. In recent years, automotive original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”) and their suppliers have, at an increasing pace, been converting many automotive components that historically were made of steel to aluminum to decrease weight without sacrificing structural integrity and safety performance and thereby achieve greater fuel efficiency standards mandated by stringent United States’ Corporate Average Fuel Economy (“CAFE”) or equivalent state regulations. Our Automotive Extrusions are designed and produced to provide specific mechanical properties and performance attributes required in automotive applications across a broad mix of North American OEMs and automotive platforms. We believe that these attributes are not easily replicated by our competitors and are important to our customers, who are typically tier one automotive suppliers.

Other Products. Other products consist of rerolled, extruded, drawn and cast billet aluminum products for a variety of North American industrial end uses. We continue to exit these non-core applications and focus our resources and production capacity on strategic Aero/HS products, Packaging, GE products and Automotive Extrusions.

Markets

Sales, Marketing and Distribution

Industry sales for fabricated products fluctuate in response to competitive and market dynamics. Sales are made directly to customers by our sales personnel located in the United States, Canada, Western Europe and China and by independent sales agents in other regions of Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Our sales and marketing efforts are focused on the markets for Aero/HS products, Packaging, GE products and Automotive Extrusions.

Aero/HS Products. We sell our Aero/HS products to metal service centers, as well as directly to aerospace manufacturers and tier one suppliers. Sales are made primarily under long-term agreements, but also on an order-by-order basis. We serve this market with a North American sales force focused on Aero/HS products and GE products and our sales personnel in Western Europe and China. Growth in demand for aerospace plate has exceeded demand growth for other forms of Aero/HS products, as aircraft manufacturers have migrated to monolithic component design, where a single piece of aluminum, usually a plate, is heavily machined to form a desired part rather than creating the same part by assembling sub-components made of aluminum sheet, extrusions or forgings that are affixed to one another using rivets, bolts or welds. Demand for our Aero/HS products is heavily impacted by commercial airframe build rates and, to a lesser degree, by defense related airframes and other products. In addition, unanticipated changes in build rates and mix of aircraft models being built can trigger restocking or destocking throughout the long aerospace supply chain, temporarily impacting demand. While commercial airframe build rates can be subject to certain short-terms events (see Part I, Item 1A. “Risk Factors” included in this Report), we believe the long-term demand for air travel and fuel efficiency will continue to drive long-term growth for our products.

Packaging. Our Packaging products are sold primarily to North American beverage can manufacturers and fillers and food packaging manufacturers. Sales are made primarily under long-term agreements by a North American direct sales force. Aluminum can stock demand is driven by the packaging industry’s shift towards environmentally sustainable materials due to the fact that aluminum is infinitely recyclable and has the highest consumer recycling rate among beverage containers. Major players have already transitioned some plastic bottled water and carbonated soft drink production to aluminum. We anticipate further growth will be underpinned by sustainability trends, the secular shift from plastic to aluminum and the fact that North American packaging capacity has been reallocated towards other end markets, including automotive and industrial.

GE Products. A majority of our GE products are sold to large metal service centers in North America on an order-by-order basis, with orders primarily consisting of standard catalog type items shipped with a relatively short lead-time. We service this market with a North American sales force focused on GE products and Aero/HS products. Demand for our GE products is closely related to the North America general industrial growth and the recent desire of many companies to lessen their risk of supply chain disruptions by reshoring suppliers and shortening the supply chain. Demand is also impacted by the destocking and restocking of inventory throughout the supply chain.

Automotive Extrusions. Our Automotive Extrusions are sold primarily to tier one automotive suppliers. Almost all sales are made under long-term agreements entered through direct channels using a North American direct sales force that works closely with our technical sales support organization. Demand for Automotive Extrusions is determined based upon automotive build rates in North

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America and aluminum content. We believe fuel efficiency standards, along with consumer preference for larger vehicles and the growing conversion to electric vehicles, will continue to drive growth in demand for aluminum extruded components in passenger vehicles as a replacement for the heavier weight of steel components.

Customers

In 2022, we had approximately 570 customers, including key customers such as Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co. (“Reliance”) and Silgan Containers Corporation (“Silgan”). While the loss of either of these customers could have a material adverse effect on us, we believe that our long-standing relationship with each is good and that the risk of losing either customer is remote. See Note 17 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for information about our significant concentrations.

Competition

The fabricated aluminum industry is highly competitive. We seek to further differentiate ourselves from our competitors through our ongoing investments to continuously improve the quality and machinability of our products, manufacture and deliver unique product attributes (KaiserSelect®) and provide a broad product offering while maintaining a strong customer focus to achieve “Best in Class” status in our markets.

Our primary competitors in the global market for Aero/HS products are Arconic, Inc., Constellium N.V. and Novelis Inc. In North America, our primary competitors for Packaging are Arconic, Inc., Constellium N.V., Novelis, Inc. and Tri-Arrows Aluminum, Inc. In serving our North American customers for both GE products and Automotive Extrusions, our primary competitors are Arconic, Inc. and Norsk Hydro ASA, and for certain of these products, we also compete with smaller, regional participants. In North America, we also compete with general engineering heat treat plate products imported from South Africa, Europe and China. Some of our competitors are substantially larger, have greater financial resources and may have other strategic advantages.

Because many of our products are used in safety critical applications, our customers have demanding standards for product quality and consistency that make it difficult to become a qualified supplier. Suppliers must pass a rigorous qualification process to sell to both airframe and automotive manufacturers and must also make significant investments in infrastructure and specialized equipment to supply products for these high strength applications. Further, sophisticated manufacturing processes make it difficult to become a qualified supplier, even with proper equipment. For example, producing heat treat plate and sheet products, particularly for aerospace applications, requires technological expertise that only a few companies have developed through significant investment in research and development and decades of operating experience. To be a supplier in the packaging market, demanding standards are also required. Producing coated end, tab and body stock for the can market requires the development of alloys and application of coatings that must pass stringent customer qualifications and be compliant with Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) regulations. Our experienced and dedicated research and development team, combined with our Customer Service group, coordinate with coating suppliers, manufacturing operations and our customers to create these alloy and coating systems.

Research and Development

Our products are differentiated based on the metallurgy and physical properties of the metal and special characteristics that are required for particular end uses. A significant amount of our research and development is devoted to product and process development within our production operations, and is largely focused on controlling the manufacturing process to improve product quality, ensure consistency and enhance one or more specific product attributes. This has resulted in the creation and delivery of our highly differentiated KaiserSelect® products.

We operate four research and development centers. Our Rolling and Heat Treat Center and our Metallurgical Analysis Center are both located at our Trentwood facility. The Rolling and Heat Treat Center has complete hot rolling, cold rolling and heat treat capabilities to simulate, in small lots, processing of flat-rolled products for process and product development on an experimental scale. The Metallurgical Analysis Center consists of a full metallographic laboratory and a scanning electron microscope to support research and development programs as well as respond to plant technical service requests. The third center, our Solidification and Casting Center, is located in Newark, Ohio (“Newark”), and has a developmental casting unit capable of casting billets and ingots for extrusion and rolling experiments. The casting unit is also capable of casting full size billets and ingots for processing on the production extrusion presses and rolling mills. Our fourth center, located in New Kensington, Pennsylvania, is focused on the forming and coating of our packaging products and has the capability on laboratory-scaled equipment to produce beverage end and food cans enabling the evaluation of new coatings and processes for packaging products. In addition, our packaging research and development center utilizes a scanning electron microscope along with FDA analytical tools to provide technical expertise to our Warrick facility and our packaging customers.

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Our Imperial Machine & Tool Co. (“IMT”) subsidiary, located in Columbia, New Jersey, provides us with significant technology and intellectual property that complements our metallurgical and application engineering expertise to further advance our capability to deliver highly engineered solutions for our customers. IMT’s multi-material expertise in aluminum, titanium, tantalum, molybdenum, nickel alloys, tungsten, cobalt chromium and stainless steel offers a differentiated approach by combining traditional machining know-how and related technical capabilities with additive manufacturing expertise to drive innovative solutions over the longer term.

We hold numerous patents, trademarks, trade secrets and copyrights that relate to the design, use and marketing of products. We consider this intellectual property to be important, but no single property is material to the overall conduct of our business.

Resources

Manufacturing Processes

We use two main processes, flat rolling and extrusion/drawing, to produce our fabricated products using a cast of alloyed prime and recycled aluminum in the desired forms and dimensions and with the desired physical properties. Both processes start by heating an aluminum rolling ingot or extrusion billet to an elevated temperature at which the metal is malleable and then applying pressure in a manner that both forces the metal into a desired shape and begins the “working” of the metal to enhance its strength and related properties.

Flat Rolling. Our manufacturing process for aluminum flat-rolled products uses ingot, a large rectangular slab of aluminum, as the starter material. The ingot is processed through a series of rolling operations that can be done at elevated (hot) or room (cold) temperatures. Finishing steps may include heat treatment, annealing, stretching, leveling, coating and slitting to achieve the desired metallurgical, dimensional and/or performance characteristics. Aluminum flat-rolled products are manufactured in a variety of alloys, a range of tempers (hardness), gauges (thickness) and widths and various finishes. Flat-rolled aluminum semi‑finished products are classified as plate (0.250 inches or greater in thickness), sheet (0.249 inches down to 0.008 inches in thickness) or coil (0.249 inches down to 0.001 inches in thickness).

Extrusion/Drawing. Our extrusion process begins with a cast billet, which is an aluminum cylinder of varying length and diameter cut from a cast log. After heating the billet to make the metal malleable, it is placed into an extrusion press and squeezed (extruded) through a die that gives the material the desired two-dimensional cross section. The material can be quenched as it leaves the press, or processed through a post-extrusion heat treatment cycle, to control the material’s physical properties. The extrusion is straightened, typically by stretching, and then cut to length before being hardened in aging ovens. Drawing is a fabrication operation in which extruded tubes and rods are pulled through a die, or drawn. The primary purpose of drawing is to reduce the diameter and wall thickness while improving physical properties and dimensions. Material may go through multiple drawing steps to achieve the final dimensional specifications. Extruded and drawn semi-fabricated products are manufactured in a variety of alloys and a range of tempers.

Additionally, some of our locations have remelt and casting operations to produce the ingot or log for flat rolling or extrusion. To produce the ingot or log, we purchase primary aluminum, recycled scrap aluminum segregated by alloys and other metals (including, but not limited to, copper, zinc and magnesium) that are necessary to create various aluminum alloys. We also recycle internally generated scrap from our own manufacturing processes. Initially in solid form, aluminum is heated in a vessel to a temperature at which it melts. While in molten form, additional metals (aluminum alloyed scrap, alloy metals, primary aluminum or high purity aluminum) are introduced to achieve the proper mixture of chemical elements for a particular alloy. When the desired chemical composition of the molten metal has been achieved, it is poured through a mold in which the molten metal cools in a controlled manner and solidifies into a rolling ingot or extrusion log. The size of the mold determines the dimensions of the rolling ingot or extrusion log. Our casting operations at our facilities in Kalamazoo, Michigan; London, Ontario; Los Angeles, California; Newark, Ohio and Sherman, Texas produce extrusion log and cut billet for their operations and for our other facilities that do not have casting operations. Our Trentwood and Warrick facilities cast rolling ingot for their own consumption.

IMT is a leader in advanced manufacturing methods and techniques, which include multi-axis CNC machining, 3D Printing, welding and fabrication for aerospace and defense, high tech and general industrial and automotive applications.

Many of our facilities employ the same basic manufacturing process and produce the same types of products. We make a significant effort to tightly integrate the management of our multiple manufacturing locations, product lines and end market applications to most efficiently and effectively serve the needs of our customers. We centralize purchasing of our primary, rolling ingot and scrap, or recycled, aluminum requirements and related alloying agents in order to better manage price, credit and other benefits. We believe that integration of our operations allows us to capture efficiencies while allowing our facilities to remain highly focused on their specific processes and end market applications.

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Raw Materials

To make our fabricated products, we purchase primary aluminum and scrap, or recycled, aluminum from third-party suppliers in varying percentages depending on various market factors, including price and availability. The price we pay for primary aluminum is typically based on the average Midwest Transaction Price (“Midwest Price”), which reflects the primary aluminum supply/demand dynamics in North America. The average Midwest Price is comprised of the average London Metal Exchange (“LME”) plus average Midwest premium. The average LME and the average Midwest premium for 2022, 2021 and 2020 were $1.23 + $0.30, $1.12 + $0.26 and $0.77 + $0.12, respectively. Scrap aluminum is typically purchased at a discount to the Midwest Price but can require additional processing.

In addition to selling fabricated aluminum products to third parties, certain of our production facilities supply log, billet or other intermediate material to certain of our other facilities for further value added conversion processing. As examples, our London, Ontario facility supplies billet to our Richmond, Virginia facility, and our Newark facility supplies log and billet to our Jackson, Tennessee facility.

Suppliers

We purchase raw materials from a wide array of vendors. In most instances, we have multiple vendors of raw materials to mitigate the risk of an interruption of supply should one of them underperform or discontinue operations. A number of our input materials are commodities, which are subject to market price fluctuations, which we strive to mitigate with our metal price neutrality and hedging programs. See Note 17 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for information about our significant concentrations.

Pricing, Metal Price Risk Management and Hedging

As noted above, we purchase primary, rolling ingot and scrap, or recycled, aluminum, our principal raw material, on a floating price basis typically based on the average Midwest Price. Our pricing of fabricated aluminum products is generally intended to lock in a conversion margin (representing the value added from the fabrication process) and to pass aluminum and certain alloy price fluctuations through to our customers. In order to meet our objective to be metal price neutral, we manage the risk of fluctuations in the price of aluminum through our pricing policies and use of financial derivatives. Our three principal pricing mechanisms are as follows:

In addition to the aluminum pricing mechanisms described above, we also strive to pass through the cost of certain alloys through either pricing adders or surcharge mechanisms. In some cases, the passing through of this alloy cost can lag the actual alloy cost, the timing of which is dependent on market conditions and customer agreements, with a favorable impact to us when alloy price declines and an adverse impact to us when alloy price increases. As with aluminum, we, from time to time, enter into either hedging transactions with third parties or firm price physical contracts to minimize the impact to us of alloy price fluctuations.

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All metal procurement and hedging activities are managed centrally to minimize transaction costs, monitor consolidated net exposures and respond promptly to changes in market factors. Hedging activities are conducted in compliance with a policy approved by our Board of Directors and administered by our hedging committee (members of which include our principal executive officer, principal financial officer and principal accounting officer).

Seasonality

Under normal operating and economic conditions, we generally have immaterial fluctuations in our overall portfolio quarter‑over‑quarter results. Within our individual end markets, our Packaging shipments are generally weighted towards the second half of the year as compared to the first half while our Aero/HS products, GE products and Automotive Extrusions shipments are generally weighted slightly more toward the first half of the year as compared to the second half. This fluctuation in shipments is usually driven by lower demand during summer vacation and year-end holiday shut downs and year-end inventory rebalancing by our end customers. During these periods of lower demand we generally perform planned major maintenance at our facilities, which can affect cost and operating results.

Government Regulation

Our operations are subject to numerous federal, state and local employment, import/export, reporting, environmental, health and safety laws and regulations. While we are subject to a wide variety of government regulations, generally those most impactful to our results of operations and capital expenditures are the environmental laws and regulations that impose limitations on the discharge of hazardous materials and pollutants and establish standards for the handling, transportation, distribution, treatment, storage and disposal of hazardous materials and solid and hazardous wastes. These regulations may require the investigation, assessment, cleanup or monitoring of, or compensation for, environmental impacts, including natural resource damages. We continually monitor our operations with respect to potential environmental issues, including changes in legal requirements and remediation technologies. We have established procedures for regularly evaluating environmental loss contingencies. Our environmental accruals represent our undiscounted estimate of costs reasonably expected to be incurred based on presently enacted laws and regulations, existing requirements, currently available facts, existing technology and our assessment of the likely remediation actions to be taken. See Note 10 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“USEPA”) issued an Endangerment Finding under the Clean Air Act, determining that emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and four other greenhouse gases (“GHGs”) threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations. We have invested and continue to invest in our manufacturing operations in order to reduce our GHG emissions. The GHG intensity of our products is reduced through: (i) increasing manufacturing efficiencies; (ii) using clean and reliable energy; (iii) using recycled and run-around scrap; and (iv) purchasing low carbon prime.

Government Contracts

We are one of the few remaining United States based aluminum semi-fabricated producers that supply the American defense industry. Although our products are used in a wide variety of military applications, including military aircraft, armored vehicles and ordnance, these products are typically sourced from us by a number of service centers and machine shops that are suppliers to the defense industry. As we generally sell to the chain of suppliers who either subcontract with direct contractors or directly contract with the government, we do not have significant direct government agreements.

Human Capital

At December 31, 2022, we employed approximately 4,000 people, of which approximately 3,920 were employed in our manufacturing, sales and support office locations and approximately 80 were employed in a corporate capacity.

Governance and Culture

Our talented workforce is a key factor underlying our success. We strive to be the employer of choice by providing equal employment and a non‑discriminatory workplace, protecting the health and safety of our employees, providing training programs and maintaining a positive and constructive relationship with labor unions of which our employees are members. Our values support and serve as the foundation for our strategic initiatives and are intended to reflect the company’s “tone at the top” which we believe sustains our culture; a culture that continues to drive our behavior. Additionally, the goal of being a valued corporate citizen guides our environmental, social and governance decisions. We are, as a result, committed to being socially responsible and active members of our industry and the communities in which we operate and our employees and their families live.

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Consistent with our corporate values, we promote fair business practices and a culture of accountability, responsibility and ethical behavior through:

We believe respecting human rights is a fundamental part of our values and corporate responsibility. We strive to respect and promote human rights in our relationships with our employees, suppliers, customers and stakeholders and are guided by the principles of the International Bill of Human Rights (the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the two international covenants) and the International Labor Organization’s Declaration on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Our Human Rights Policy is communicated to our employees as part of their annual code of conduct training, and we expect our employees to uphold this policy.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging

We are committed to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging and strive to be the preferred employer by, among other things: (i) attracting, developing and retaining the best people from all cultures and segments of the population based on ability; (ii) treating all employees with dignity and respect; (iii) providing an environment of diversity, inclusion, belonging, empowerment, responsibility and accountability; and (iv) offering competitive and equal pay and benefits that attract and retain employees. We focus on: (i) continuing to consider ethnic and gender diversity as we identify training cohorts and opportunities; (ii) leveraging the views and perspectives of our diverse employees and leaders; (iii) developing meaningful metrics and benchmarks by location and job function to measure the effectiveness of our efforts; (iv) fostering relationships with educational institutions, employment agencies and professional groups to expand the pool of potential candidates and employees to achieve a more diverse workforce; (v) focusing on diverse candidates for internships, entry-level positions and scholarships; and (vi) actively recruiting from military bases for military and veteran hiring. Our Human Rights Policy and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy, which align with our corporate values and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, are overseen by our Board of Directors and senior leadership team.

Labor Practices and Policies

Safety. We believe employee safety begins with a strong and consistent tone at the top through our executive leadership with oversight provided by our Corporate Health and Safety team, led by our Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel. To help us achieve and maintain a strong safety culture, we have robust compliance and assessment programs such as annual safety planning, monthly safety calls, routine performance reviews against targets and routine audits. Additionally, we partner with the United Steelworkers and various industry groups, including the Aluminum Association, to share and identify best practices. We use both internal and external resources, including the American National Standards Institute (“ANSI”) and International Organization for Standardization (“ISO”), to assess our compliance with regulatory and internal standards, providing training, performing risk assessments, audits and loss control inspections and developing mitigation strategies with particular emphasis on risks with a greater potential for severe injury. We stress risk awareness and job safe practices and engage our employees in conversations about safety and safety training using a variety of communication channels, including one-on-one communications.

We also believe that having a culture of health and safety involves every employee at every level throughout the organization assuming responsibility to guard against workplace injuries by recognizing risks and taking other actions to minimize injury risk and severity. Risk reduction is a key initiative at each of our facilities and part of our annual planning process and we are committed to nurturing a culture consistent with being a preferred employer. We monitor our progress through routine reviews of our safety process and performance. We utilize both leading and trailing indicators to monitor our progress. While trailing indicators, such as total case incident rate (“TCIR”), lost-time case incident rate (“LTIR”) and days away, restricted and transfer (“DART”) rate, help us monitor our safety performance, leading indicators, such as significant injury and fatality (“SIF”) potential and actual incident rate, near‑misses, timely correction action of internal and external audit findings, on-time safety plan execution information and safety culture risk, help us monitor and assess risks and the effectiveness of our safety plans and processes. Plant safety metrics are integrated into our monthly quality, production and financial reports and are reviewed by the senior leadership team every month. In addition, TCIR and LTIR safety modifiers are included in each of our short-term incentive compensation plans, including the corporate plan applicable to each of our executive officers and members of senior management.

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Health. Over the years, we have implemented programs on a Company-wide basis to increase awareness of the importance of employee wellness. We have continued to introduce programs to educate and assist employees to make healthy lifestyle choices and have offered incentives and discounts to encourage participation across the organization, including:

Labor Union Affiliations. We believe in freedom of association and respect our employees’ choice to be represented or not represented, by a union in accordance with the laws of the states and countries where we operate, without fear of reprisal, intimidation or harassment. Approximately 66% of our employees are represented by labor unions under labor contracts with varying durations and expiration dates. The following table shows each manufacturing location, the primary union affiliation, if any, and the expiration date for the current union contracts as of December 31, 2022. As indicated in the table, our union affiliations are with the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union, AFL-CIO, CLC (“USW”), International Association of Machinists (“IAM”) and International Brotherhood of Teamsters (“Teamsters”). See Note 17 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for additional information about concentration of labor subject to collective bargaining agreements.

Recruiting, Training, Development and Retention

Recruiting. We are committed to recruiting a workforce that reflects people from all cultures and segments of the population based on ability. Our initiatives, which go beyond legal compliance, include: (i) identifying and recruiting diverse talent, including military veterans; (ii) fostering relationships with universities, employment agencies and professional groups that work with more diverse populations; (iii) leveraging inclusive job-posting sites; and (iv) concentrating on diverse candidates for internships, entry‑level positions and scholarships. We have a well-established talent review process that includes operations and functional leaders that are key in the early identification of high performing and high potential employees. We also track and review the gender and ethnic diversity of job applicants and new hires to evaluate our efforts to continue to increase the diversity of our organization. The ESG committee of our board oversees, among other things, the succession planning for our executive officers and the leadership, progression and development of key employees.

Training, Development and Retention. Kaiser Aluminum is committed to the development of our employees through a broad mix of internal and external program resources incorporating on-the-job training and development through the Kaiser Leadership Program, the Front Line Leader Development Program, the Kaiser Aluminum Women’s Leadership Program, Kaiser University, the Tuition Assistance Program and the Metallurgy Excellence and Technical Strength Program. We continue to expand our talent management initiatives to pursue the significant long-term potential for our continued success. Our success is dependent on the knowledge, skills and abilities of our current and future leaders and employees.

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The Kaiser Leadership Program is a full year program that accelerates the readiness of key talent and combines personalized leadership development and Kaiser-management system focused curriculum with a unique opportunity to build relationships with an internal network of leaders across locations and functions. The mission of the Kaiser Leadership Program is to strengthen performance, develop bench strength and accelerate the readiness of key talent across our company. The program blends classroom, online modules and live web events using a cohort model to deliver a flexible, convenient learning environment and includes training and coaching conducted by Thayer Leadership at West Point.

The Front Line Leader Development Program is a six-month program that strengthens organizational performance through ethical, effective and sustaining tactical leadership for both new and experienced frontline supervisors. The program uses a cohort model to encourage collaboration and team-building and to ensure accountability, facilitated group discussions and effective best practice sharing.

The Kaiser Aluminum Women's Leadership Program (“KWLP”) was launched in June 2022 and provides a female-focused professional development curriculum, mentorship and networking opportunities designed to elevate the visibility of women at Kaiser Aluminum, to increase female representation in all levels of leadership and to enhance the inclusion and sense of belonging for current and potential female leaders. Similar to the Kaiser Leadership Program, the KWLP uses in-person events, program meetings, self-directed learning and assignments, mentoring meetings and cohort collective meetings.

Kaiser University is our web-based learning and development platform offering a catalog of thousands of on-demand courses to employees across a broad range of topics including compliance, maintenance, health and safety, Lean Six Sigma, communication skills, business skills, computer skills, cybersecurity, discrimination and harassment prevention and our processes and policies.

The Tuition Assistance Program provides tuition reimbursement for salaried employees and certain represented employees as stipulated by the collective bargaining agreement. The mission of this program is to support our workforce in completing a degree that benefits both our employees and our company.

The Metallurgy Excellence and Technical Strength Program provides professional development for our talented metallurgical professionals in order to facilitate their ability to develop and implement process control systems and identify new technologies that can benefit the company. This program provides mentorship opportunities with company leaders and experts as well as participation in career enhancing training to ensure our competitive advantage.

Rewards

All of our employees, including hourly and salaried employees at our production facilities, participate in short-term incentive compensation plans, which are based on attainment of performance metrics that drive and support our “Best in Class” commitment. We also provide stock-based compensation to executive officers, members of senior management throughout the company and other key employees, as well as a deferred compensation plan for certain employees. All of our U.S. employees have access to 401(k) savings plans, depending on the terms of their employment, and salaried employees at our London, Ontario facility have access to a defined benefit pension plan with annual contributions based on each salaried employee’s age and years of service. Through the collective bargaining process, we contribute to four multi‑employer pension plans under the terms of certain collective bargaining agreements for a majority of our union-represented employees and certain union employees at our Warrick facility participate in a defined benefit pension plan, as well as a postretirement benefit plan relating to retiree medical and life insurance benefits. Additionally, certain hourly and salaried employees are also able to receive defined post-retirement health and welfare benefits through Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Associations.

Information Security

We employ information systems to support our business. As is the case for other manufacturing companies of comparable size and scope, we, from time to time, experience attempted cyber-attacks on our information system. We also face risks associated with other potential significant failures or disruptions of our information technology networks. We utilize a risk-based, multi-layered information security approach following the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework and have adopted and implemented an approach to identify and mitigate information security risks that we believe is commercially reasonable for manufacturing companies of our size and scope, including many of the best practices of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework.

Our information security performance and recent cybersecurity industry trends are reviewed by management, including our Chief Information Officer at least monthly and are reported to and reviewed by each of the audit committee and the full Board of Directors throughout the year (but no less than once a year). Our entire Board of Directors is responsible for overseeing management’s

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risk assessment and risk management processes designed to monitor and mitigate information security risks, including cyber risk and related insurance policies.

We regularly engage independent third parties to test our information security processes and systems as part of our overall enterprise risk management. We also conduct annual information security training to ensure employees are aware of information security risks and to enable them to take steps to mitigate those risks. As part of this program, we also take reasonable steps to ensure our executive management and employees, including any employee who may come into possession of confidential financial information, receive appropriate information security awareness training.

To date, no attempted cyber-attack or other attempted intrusion on our information technology networks has resulted in a material adverse impact on our operations or financial results, or in any penalties or settlements. In the event an attack or other intrusion were to be successful, we have a response team of internal and external resources engaged and prepared to respond.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

In addition to the factors discussed elsewhere in this Report, the risks described below are those that we believe are material to our company. The occurrence of any of the events discussed below could significantly and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial position, results of operations and cash flows as well as the trading price of our securities.

RISKS RELATED TO CHANGES IN DEMAND FOR OUR PRODUCTS.

Recent macroeconomic factors including labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, inflation, recession risks and the COVID-19 pandemic have caused downturns in the commercial aerospace industry and other commercial disruptions, which have adversely affected our business, and could cause additional downturns in the automotive and ground transportation industries, which would further adversely affect our business.

We derive a significant portion of our revenue from products sold to the aerospace and automotive and ground transportation industries. Macroeconomic factors including, but not limited to: (i) labor shortages; (ii) disruptions to supply chains, such as the recent disruptions with our molten metal and magnesium supply chains; (iii) other interruptions of international and regional commerce; (iv) inflation; (v) higher interest rates; (vi) recession risks; and (vii) concerns regarding and measures implemented in response to pandemics of infectious disease, such as the COVID‑19 pandemic, have and could further cause changes in global travel and shipping patterns, negatively influencing demand for new commercial aircraft and other vehicles, resulting in cancellations or deferrals of orders and/or decreases in new deliveries. Moreover, because new automotive vehicle demand is tied closely to overall economic strength, economic uncertainty, increasing interest rates and/or increased unemployment could lead to weak demand for, or lower production of, new cars, light trucks, SUVs and heavy duty vehicles and trailers, which, in turn, could adversely affect demand for our products. Despite existing backlogs, additional adverse macroeconomic developments may lead to reduced demand for our products, which could adversely affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

We operate in a highly competitive industry.

We compete with others in the fabricated products segment of the aluminum industry based upon quality, availability, price, customer service and delivery performance. Some of our competitors are substantially larger than we are, have greater financial resources than we do, operate more facilities than we do, are geographically closer to our customers than we are, employ more efficient or advanced technologies than we do or have other strategic advantages. Additionally, new parties may become capable of manufacturing similar products and qualifying them with our customers, which could lead to further competitive pressure. Competitors’ facilities located in certain other countries may have a manufacturing cost advantage compared to our facilities, which are located in the United States and Canada. Such foreign competitors may sell products similar to our products at lower prices as a result of having lower manufacturing costs or due to currency exchange rates that periodically favor foreign competition. Some foreign competitors may also dump their products in the United States and Canada in violation of existing trade laws. We may not be able to compete by differentiating ourselves based on the quality, availability and delivery of our products or our customer service. Additionally, we may not be able to reduce our cost structure and our selling prices to be competitive with others, and tariffs introduced to protect manufacturers in the United States and Canada from foreign price competition may not be fully effective. Increased competition could cause a reduction in demand for our products and our shipment volumes, our product pricing or both

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shipment volumes and product pricing, which could have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Reductions in demand for our products may be more severe than, and may occur prior to, reductions in demand for our customers’ products.

Most of our products undergo further fabrication by other parties before being deployed in their end uses. In particular, our Aero/HS products undergo numerous stages of further fabrication or assembly by a number of parties in the supply chain, often over the course of many months. The lead time from when we sell our Aero/HS product to when the finished product is installed on an aircraft often exceeds a year. Due to this long lead time, demand for our products may increase prior to demand for our customers’ products or may decrease when our customers experience or anticipate softening demand for their products. Our customers typically respond to reduced demand for their products by depleting their inventory until their inventory falls to a new desired level. This causes a greater reduction in demand for our products than our customers experience for their products. Further, the reduction in demand for our products can be exacerbated if our customers’ inventory levels had been higher than normal, if production is delayed for specific commercial airframe models, if our customers previously had purchased products from us at committed sales contract volumes that exceeded their actual need or for other reasons. The amplified reduction in demand for our products while our customers consume their inventory to meet their business needs (destocking) may adversely affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Our customers may reduce their demand for aluminum products in favor of alternative materials.

Our products compete with other materials for use in various customer applications. For instance, the commercial aerospace industry has used and continues to evaluate the further use of titanium, composites and carbon fiber materials as alternatives to aluminum to reduce aircraft weight and increase fuel efficiency. Additionally, while the automotive industry has continued to increase use of aluminum in vehicle production to reduce vehicle weight and increase fuel efficiency, manufacturers may revert to steel or other materials for certain applications and rely on improved drivetrain technology, more efficient engines, aerodynamics or other measures to achieve fuel efficiency goals. Finally, the packaging industry has used and continues to use steel, tin, plastics, glass and paperboard as alternatives to aluminum for packaging and delivery of food and beverages. The packaging industry is heavily influenced by cost and recyclability of the packaging material. The willingness of customers to use materials other than aluminum could adversely affect the demand for our products, particularly our Aero/HS products, Packaging and Automotive Extrusions, and thus could adversely affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Our customers may reduce their demand for our products if the government relaxes fuel efficiency standards or if oil prices remain low for a protracted period of time.

Efficient use of fossil fuels partially drives demand for aluminum in transportation applications. The USEPA, other federal regulatory agencies and regulatory agencies of certain states have generally sought to limit growth of fossil fuel usage by establishing stricter fuel efficiency standards. In addition, newly elected and/or changing administrations could accelerate efforts to not only limit, but reduce, fossil fuel usage and carbon emissions beyond what may be technologically possible for certain products and manufacturing processes and revisit or reverse the environmental agendas of previous administrations with respect to previously established fuel efficiency standards. Additionally, in periods of lower oil prices, the economic benefits of replacing older aircraft and automobiles with more fuel-efficient models are less compelling. A relaxation of fuel efficiency standards by the regulatory agencies or an extended period of moderate oil prices could reduce demand for new more efficient aircraft and automobiles, which could adversely affect the demand for our products and have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

The commercial aerospace industry is cyclical and downturns in the commercial aerospace industry could adversely affect our business.

We derive a significant portion of our revenue from products sold to the aerospace industry. Notwithstanding a secular growth trend spanning nearly two decades, the aerospace industry is highly cyclical. Numerous factors that influence demand for new commercial aircraft could result in cancellations or deferrals of aircraft orders and a global decrease in new commercial aircraft deliveries. These factors have included the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on global travel and supply chains, but also include but are not limited to: (i) declines or reduced growth trends in global travel and airline passenger traffic; (ii) the rate of replacement of older aircraft with more fuel efficient aircraft; (iii) changing airline strategies affecting preferences for single-aisle aircraft models as opposed to twin-aisle or jumbo aircraft models; (iv) airline industry profitability; (v) the state of regional and global economies; (vi) concerns regarding terrorism or the threat of terrorism; (vii) concerns regarding new pandemics of infectious disease; and (viii) safety concerns with newly introduced and existing aircraft. Despite existing backlogs, adverse developments in any one or more of these influencing factors may lead to reduced demand for new aircraft that utilize our products, which could adversely affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

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Reductions in defense spending for aerospace and non-aerospace military applications could adversely affect demand for our products.

Our products are used in a wide variety of military applications, including military aircraft, armored vehicles and ordnance. Certain military programs are used by the U.S. armed forces, as well as by the defense forces of our allied foreign powers. Military programs that currently use or in the future could use our products may be subject to changes in military strategy and government priorities. Further, while many of the U.S. government programs span several years, they are often funded annually, and funding is generally subject to congressional appropriations. When U.S. and foreign allied governments are faced with competing national priorities, such as addressing financial or spending crises or public health emergencies, there can be significant pressure to reduce defense spending, which could reduce the demand for our products and adversely affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Downturns in the automotive and ground transportation industries could adversely affect our business.

The demand for our Automotive Extrusions and many of our general engineering and other industrial products is dependent on the production of cars, light trucks, SUVs and heavy duty vehicles and trailers in North America. The automotive industry is highly cyclical, as new vehicle demand is dependent on consumer spending and is tied closely to the overall strength of the North American economy. Even with the automotive industry’s growing use of aluminum to reduce vehicle weight, weak demand for, or lower production of, new cars, light trucks, SUVs and heavy duty vehicles and trailers could adversely affect the demand for our products and have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Changes in consumer demand for particular motor vehicles could adversely affect our business.

Sensitivity to fuel prices, an increased preference for environmentally friendly alternatives and other consumer preferences can influence consumer demand for motor vehicles that have a higher content of the aluminum Automotive Extrusions that we supply. The loss of business with respect to, or a lack of commercial success of, one or more particular vehicle models for which we are a significant supplier could have an adverse impact on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Aluminum beverage and food packaging products are subject to competition from substitute products and decreases in demand, which could result in lower profits and reduced cash flows.

Aluminum coil produced for demanding end market applications in the beverage and food packaging industry in North America are subject to substantial competition from producers of alternative packaging made from glass, paper, flexible materials, plastic and organic or compostable materials, which may compare favorably to aluminum with respect to preservation of food and beverage quality and/or sustainability. Changes in the volume of sales by our customers in the food and beverage markets and preferences for products and packaging by consumers of prepackaged food and beverage cans may significantly influence our sales. Changes in packaging preferences by our customers may require us to re-tool manufacturing operations, which could require material expenditures. In addition, a decrease in the costs of, or a further increase in consumer demand for, alternative packaging could result in lower profits and reduced cash flows for us. For example, increases in the price of aluminum and decreases in the price of plastic resin, which is a petrochemical product and may fluctuate with prices in the oil and gas market, may increase substitution of plastic food and beverage containers for metal containers. Moreover, due to associated high percentage of fixed costs, we may be unable to maintain the gross margin of aluminum packaging products at past levels if we are not able to achieve high capacity utilization rates for our production equipment. In periods of low demand for aluminum packaging products or in situations where industry expansion created excess capacity, we may experience relatively low capacity utilization rates, which can lead to reduced margins during that period and can have an adverse effect on our business.

RISKS RELATED TO SALES.

We depend on a core group of significant customers.

In 2022, our five largest customers in total accounted for approximately 52% of our 2022 net sales. Most of these customers have one or more sizable sales agreements with us. If one or more of these customers experienced a prolonged period of adverse demand, depressed business activity or financial distress, if any of these customers breached or sought relief from its contractual obligations under its sales agreements with us or if any of these customer relationships otherwise ended or materially deteriorated and such lost business was not successfully replaced, our financial position, results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected.

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We experience fluctuation in certain costs that we cannot pass through to our customers and face pressure from our customers on pricing.

We are unable to pass fluctuations of certain costs through to our customers, including the cost of energy, certain raw materials, operating supplies and freight. Further, cost cutting initiatives that many of our customers have adopted generally result in downward pressure on pricing. If we are unable to generate sufficient productivity improvements and cost savings in the future to offset reductions in our selling prices and increases in our costs that we cannot pass through to our customers, our financial position, results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected.

We are exposed to risks related to our receivables supply chain financing arrangements.

We are party to several supply chain financing arrangements, in which we may sell certain of our customers’ trade accounts receivable without recourse to such customers’ financial institutions. To the extent that these arrangements are terminated, our financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and liquidity could be adversely affected by extended payment terms, delays or failures in collecting trade accounts receivables. The utility of certain supply chain financing arrangements also depends upon the Term Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“Term SOFR”), as it is a component of the discount rate applicable to certain arrangements. If the Term SOFR rate increases significantly or remains at an elevated level for a prolonged period of time, we may be negatively impacted as we may not be able to pass these added costs on to our customers, which could have a material and adverse effect upon our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

RISKS RELATED TO GEO-POLITICAL FACTORS.

Our industry is very sensitive to foreign economic, regulatory and political factors that may adversely affect our business.

We import primary aluminum and certain alloy metals from, and manufacture fabricated products used in, foreign countries. Our financial position, results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected by numerous factors in the politically and economically diverse jurisdictions: (i) from which our input materials are sourced; (ii) in which we operate; (iii) in which our customers operate; or (iv) in which our products are consumed or further fabricated. Such factors include but are not limited to:

RISKS RELATED TO PRODUCT AND MANUFACTURING.

We may experience difficulties in the launch or production ramp-up of new products which could adversely affect our business.

As we ramp up manufacturing processes for newly introduced products, we may experience difficulties, including manufacturing disruptions, delays or other complications, which could adversely impact our ability to serve our customers, our reputation, our costs of production and, ultimately, our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Unplanned events may interrupt our production operations, which may adversely affect our business.

The production of fabricated aluminum products is subject to unplanned events such as explosions, fires, inclement weather, natural disasters, accidents, equipment failures, labor disruptions, transportation interruptions, public utilities interruptions and supply interruptions. Operational interruptions could significantly curtail the production capacity of a facility for a period of time. We have redundant capacity and capability to produce many of our extruded products within our manufacturing platform to mitigate our

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business risk from such interruptions, but interruptions at our Trentwood facility where our production of plate and sheet is concentrated or at our Warrick facility where our production of packaging material is concentrated, could significantly compromise our ability to meet our customers’ needs. Delayed delivery of our products to customers who require on-time delivery from us may cause customers to purchase alternative products at a higher cost, reschedule their own production or incur other incremental costs. Customers may be able to pursue financial claims against us for their incremental costs, and we may incur costs to correct such problems in addition to any liability resulting from such claims. Interruptions may also harm our reputation among actual and potential customers, potentially resulting in a loss of business. To the extent these losses are not covered by insurance, our financial position, results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected by such events.

We may face challenges to our intellectual property rights which could adversely affect our reputation, business and competitive position.

Our intellectual property plays an important role in maintaining our competitive position in a number of the markets that we serve. Our competitors may develop technologies that are similar or superior to our proprietary technologies or design around the patents we own or license. Despite our controls and safeguards, our technology may be misappropriated by our employees, our competitors or other third parties. The pursuit of remedies for any misappropriation of our intellectual property is expensive and the ultimate remedies may be deemed insufficient. Developments or assertions by or against us relating to intellectual property rights, and any inability to protect or enforce our rights sufficiently, could adversely affect our business and competitive position.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR STRATEGIC TRANSACTIONS AND INITIATIVES.

We may not be able to successfully implement our productivity enhancement and cost reduction initiatives that are necessary to offset competitive price pressure.

Over time, we have experienced pricing pressure on many of our products and anticipate continued pricing pressure in the future. Ongoing and heightened competitive price pressure makes it increasingly important for us to be a low cost producer. Although we have undertaken and expect to continue to undertake productivity enhancement and cost reduction initiatives, including significant investments in our facilities to improve our manufacturing efficiency, cost and product quality, we cannot make assurances that we will complete all of these initiatives, that we will fully realize the estimated cost savings from such activities, that short-to-medium term improvements from new efficiencies and lower cost structure achieved will become permanent or that we will be able to continue to reduce cost and increase productivity over the long term.

Our investment and other expansion projects may not be completed, start up as scheduled or deliver the expected capacity and other benefits.

Our ability to complete our investment and expansion projects and the timing and costs of doing so are subject to various risks associated with all major construction projects, many of which are beyond our control, including technical or mechanical problems and economic conditions. Additionally, the start-up of operations after such projects have been completed can be complicated and costly. If we are unable to fully complete these projects, if the actual costs for these projects exceed our expectations, if the start-up phase after completion is more complicated than anticipated or if the capacity and other benefits of these projects are less than anticipated, our financial position, results of operations and cash flows could be adversely affected.

We may not realize the benefits of the Warrick rolling mill acquisition.

Our acquisition of Warrick rolling mill in 2021 could disrupt our business and/or dilute or adversely affect the price of our common stock. Risks associated with the Warrick rolling mill acquisition may include:

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If we fail to successfully integrate the Warrick rolling mill, we may not realize the benefits expected from the transaction and/or it may have adverse effects on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

We are dependent upon Alcoa Corporation (“Alcoa”) for certain resources essential to the day-to-day operation of our business at Warrick.

We are dependent upon Alcoa for certain resources required for the day-to-day operation of our business at Warrick, which include molten aluminum and “support services” such as the provision of potable water, compressed air, laboratory services, electricity, steam and hot water. In order to transition Warrick from dependence upon the support services to independence as a facility with its own self-sufficient infrastructure, Alcoa has agreed to provide “transition services,” including providing infrastructure and equipment for the production of steam, hot water and compressed air and conveying the filtration plant currently utilized for the supply of potable water. In addition, Alcoa has agreed to pay for the development of infrastructure necessary for Warrick to obtain electricity from a third party power supplier, subject to certain conditions no later than June 30, 2024. A failure by Alcoa to provide molten aluminum and support services or transition services within the time frames and upon the terms agreed to, including quality and performance standards, could cause us to incur substantial costs to keep the Warrick rolling mill operational or result in the temporary or permanent shutdown of Warrick’s operations. In the event that production of Warrick is negatively impacted by Alcoa’s failure to provide molten aluminum, support or transition services, our operations, business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

RISKS RELATED TO COMMODITY-RELATED PRICE FLUCTUATIONS.

Our business could be adversely affected by pricing and availability of primary aluminum.

Our largest inputs to produce fabricated aluminum products are primary aluminum and recycled scrap aluminum. Primary aluminum pricing fluctuates in response to global supply and demand and also reflects the impact of duties and tariffs imposed by the United States and certain other countries. The timing and magnitude of changes in market pricing for primary aluminum are largely unpredictable. Our pricing structures for fabricated aluminum products generally allow us to pass fluctuations in the price of primary aluminum through to our customers so that we can minimize our exposure to metal price risk. However, competitive dynamics for certain of our high margin products may limit the amount or delay the timing of selling price increases on our products to recover our increased aluminum costs, resulting in a time lag during which we may be partially exposed to metal price risk. If these events were to occur, they could have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, if the market price for primary aluminum were to remain high for an extended period of time, the corresponding increase in our selling price for our fabricated products may cause some of our customers to switch to other materials in lieu of our products, causing sales of our fabricated aluminum products to decrease, which could adversely affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Our business could be adversely affected by the pricing and availability of recycled scrap aluminum.

We can efficiently use certain forms of recycled scrap aluminum in lieu of primary aluminum and alloying metals in our operations because recycled scrap aluminum trades at a discount to primary aluminum. The size of the discount to primary aluminum depends on regional scrap aluminum supply and demand dynamics. Larger discounts, generally available in periods of ample regional scrap aluminum supply relative to demand, enhance the economic advantage to us of using recycled scrap aluminum in lieu of primary aluminum and alloying metals. The timing and magnitude of changes in scrap discounts relative to primary aluminum are largely unpredictable. If the availability of recycled scrap aluminum in our regional markets were to tighten, scrap discounts relative to primary aluminum could decline and the amount of recycled scrap aluminum we could procure for use in our operations could decline, either of which could have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Our business could be adversely affected by the pricing and availability of alloying metals.

We use certain alloying metals, such as copper, zinc, magnesium and silicon, in our operations in order to achieve required performance properties in our products. The availability of these alloys in some cases has been and in the future may be restricted due to limited suppliers, government regulations, energy and supply chain disruptions and/or general demand dynamics. When sudden restrictions of these materials occur we have been and in the future may be subject to rapid price increases and limited supplies, either of which could have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Reduced pricing for aluminum can reduce our borrowing availability and cause our liquidity to decline.

Lower aluminum prices reduce the market value of our inventory and generally cause a reduction in our accounts receivable as we pass through a lower underlying aluminum price to our customers. Because the amount we can borrow under our revolving credit

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facility with Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as administrative agent, and the other financial institutions party thereto (“Revolving Credit Facility”) is determined by the value of our receivables and inventory, which serve as collateral for the facility, a reduction in aluminum prices can reduce our borrowing availability and our liquidity, which could have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Our hedging programs have been and could continue to be adversely impacted by fluctuations as a result of the impacts of supply chain disruptions, geopolitical activity and general economic conditions.

We use forward contracts to protect against fluctuations in commodity price and currency exchange rate risks. The effectiveness of these hedges depends, in part, on our ability to accurately forecast future product demand and related cash flow. Due to the impacts of supply chain disruptions, geopolitical activity, general economic conditions and other factors, our customers’ businesses are subject to many uncertainties and, as a result, we have experienced, and may continue to experience, unanticipated volatility in product demand and related cash flows. When we experience such volatility or are otherwise unable to make accurate predictions with respect to our forward swaps designated as cash flow or fair value hedges, such hedging activities may become ineffective. The early settlement, reclassification of cumulative losses and/or the periodic adjustment to fair value through Net (loss) income associated with ineffective hedging activities could have a material negative impact on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Our hedging programs may limit the income and cash flows we would otherwise expect to receive if our hedging programs were not in place and may otherwise affect our business.

In the ordinary course of business, we enter into hedging transactions to limit our exposure to risks relating to changes in the market prices of primary aluminum, certain alloying metals, natural gas and electricity, as well as fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates. To the extent that market prices or exchange rates at the expiration of these hedging transactions would have been more favorable to us than the fixed prices or rates established by these hedging transactions, our income and cash flows will be lower than they otherwise would have been. Our liquidity could also be adversely affected to the extent we incur margin calls from our hedging counterparties due to the market price of the underlying commodity or the foreign currency exchange rates deviating adversely from fixed, floor or ceiling prices or rates established by our outstanding hedging transactions. Our failure to satisfy certain covenants in the underlying hedging documents or the occurrence of an event of default thereunder could also trigger margin calls that could adversely impact our liquidity, financial position, results of operations and cash flows. Our hedging programs also expose us to the creditworthiness of our hedging counterparties, which is inherently difficult to assess and can change quickly and dramatically. Non-performance by a hedging counterparty could have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR INDEBTEDNESS.

Covenants and events of default in our debt instruments could limit our ability to undertake certain types of transactions and adversely affect our liquidity.

Our Revolving Credit Facility and the indentures governing our 4.625% Senior Notes due 2028 (“4.625% Senior Notes”) and 4.50% Senior Notes due 2031 (“4.50% Senior Notes”) contain a number of restrictive covenants that impose operating and financial restrictions on us and may limit our ability to engage in acts that may be in our long-term best interest, including restrictions on our ability to:

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In addition, restrictive covenants in our Revolving Credit Facility require us in certain circumstances to maintain specified financial ratios and satisfy other financial condition tests. Our ability to meet those financial ratios and tests can be affected by events beyond our control and we may be unable to meet them.

A breach of the covenants or restrictions under our Revolving Credit Facility or under the indentures governing the 4.625% Senior Notes and 4.50% Senior Notes could result in an event of default under the applicable indebtedness. Such a default may allow the creditors to accelerate the related debt. A payment default or an acceleration following an event of default under our Revolving Credit Facility or our indentures for our 4.625% Senior Notes and 4.50% Senior Notes could trigger an event of default under the other indebtedness obligation, as well as any other debt to which a cross-acceleration or cross-default provision applies, which could result in the principal of and the accrued and unpaid interest on all such debt becoming due and payable. In addition, an event of default under our Revolving Credit Facility could permit the lenders under our Revolving Credit Facility to terminate all commitments to extend further credit under that facility. Furthermore, if we were unable to repay any amounts due and payable under our Revolving Credit Facility, those lenders could proceed against the collateral granted to them to secure that indebtedness. In the event our lenders or noteholders accelerate the repayment of our borrowings, we and our subsidiaries may not have sufficient assets to repay that indebtedness.

As a result of these restrictions, we may be:

In addition, our financial results, our level of indebtedness and our credit ratings could adversely affect the availability and terms of any additional or replacement financing.

More detailed descriptions of our Revolving Credit Facility and the indentures governing our 4.625% Senior Notes and 4.50% Senior Notes are included in filings made by us with the SEC, along with the documents themselves, which provide the full text of these covenants.

Restrictive covenants in our debt instruments contain significant qualifications and exceptions.

While our Revolving Credit Facility and the indentures governing the 4.625% Senior Notes and 4.50% Senior Notes place limitations on our ability to pay dividends or make other distributions, repurchase or redeem capital stock, make loans and investments and incur additional indebtedness, investors should be aware that these limitations are subject to significant qualifications and exceptions. The aggregate amount of payments made or incremental debt incurred in compliance with these limitations could be substantial.

As indicated above, more detailed descriptions of our Revolving Credit Facility and the indentures governing our 4.625% Senior Notes and 4.50% Senior Notes are included in filings made by us with the SEC, along with the documents themselves, which provide the full text of these covenants.

Servicing our debt requires a significant amount of cash and we may not have sufficient cash flow from our business to pay our debt.

Our ability to make scheduled interest and principal payments on our debt obligations or to refinance such obligations depends on our financial condition and operating performance, which are subject to prevailing economic and competitive conditions and to certain financial, business, legislative, regulatory and other factors beyond our control. We may be unable to maintain a level of cash flows from operating activities sufficient to permit us to pay the interest, principal and premium, if any, on our indebtedness.

If our cash flows and capital resources are insufficient to fund our debt service obligations, we could face substantial liquidity problems and could be forced to reduce or delay investments and capital expenditures, dispose of material assets or operations, restructure or refinance our indebtedness or seek additional debt or equity capital. We may not be able to effect any such alternative measures, if necessary, on commercially reasonable terms or at all and, even if successful, those alternative actions may not allow us to meet our scheduled debt service obligations. Our Revolving Credit Facility and the indentures governing the 4.625% Senior Notes and 4.50% Senior Notes restrict our ability to dispose of assets and use the proceeds from those dispositions and may also restrict our ability to raise debt or certain forms of equity capital to be used to repay other indebtedness when it becomes due. We may not be able to consummate asset dispositions or to obtain proceeds in an amount sufficient to meet any debt service obligations then due.

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If we cannot make scheduled payments on our debt, we will be in default and holders of the 4.625% Senior Notes and 4.50% Senior Notes could declare all outstanding principal and interest to be due and payable, the lenders under our Revolving Credit Facility could terminate their commitments to loan money, the lenders could foreclose against the assets securing their borrowings and we could be forced into bankruptcy or liquidation.

We are a holding company and depend on our subsidiaries for cash to meet our obligations and pay any dividends.

We are a holding company and conduct all of our operations through our subsidiaries, certain of which are not guarantors of our 4.625% Senior Notes, 4.50% Senior Notes or our Revolving Credit Facility. Accordingly, repayments of our 4.625% Senior Notes, 4.50% Senior Notes and amounts due under our Revolving Credit Facility are dependent on the generation of cash flow by our subsidiaries and their ability to make such cash available to us by dividend, loan, debt repayment or otherwise. Our subsidiaries that are not guarantors of our 4.625% Senior Notes, 4.50% Senior Notes or the Revolving Credit Facility have no obligation to pay amounts due on the 4.625% Senior Notes, 4.50% Senior Notes or the Revolving Credit Facility or to make funds available for that purpose. Our subsidiaries may not be able to, or may not be permitted to, make distributions to enable us to make payments in respect of our indebtedness. Each of our subsidiaries is a distinct legal entity and, under certain circumstances, legal and contractual restrictions may limit our ability to obtain cash from our subsidiaries. In the event that we do not receive distributions from our subsidiaries, we may be unable to make required interest and principal payments on the 4.625% Senior Notes, the 4.50% Senior Notes or our Revolving Credit Facility, or other indebtedness.

Our inability to receive distributions from our subsidiaries, otherwise generate sufficient cash flows to satisfy our debt obligations or refinance our indebtedness on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, would adversely affect our financial position and results of operations.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENTS.

Our failure to maintain satisfactory labor relations could adversely affect our business.

At December 31, 2022, approximately 66% of our employees were represented by labor unions under labor contracts with varying durations and expiration dates. Employees at our Trentwood and Newark, Ohio (“Newark”) facilities are represented by the USW under a single contract that extends through September 2025. The USW also represents employees at six other facilities, one of which has a contract expiring in 2023. As part of any labor negotiation, the future wages, healthcare benefits and excise taxes that may result therefrom, and other benefits that we agree to, could adversely affect our future financial position, results of operations and cash flows. In addition, negotiations could divert management attention, result in unsatisfactory terms and conditions, fail in coming to any agreement at all or result in strikes, work stoppages or other union-initiated work actions, any of which could have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows. Moreover, the existence of labor agreements may not prevent such union-initiated work actions.

Our participation in multi-employer union pension plans may have an adverse effect on our financial performance.

We participate in several multi-employer pension plans pursuant to our collective bargaining agreements. Our contribution amounts to these plans were established by collective bargaining and, along with benefit levels and related items, will be issues in our future collective bargaining negotiations. Based on the most recent information available to us, we believe some of these plans are underfunded and may require increased contributions from participating employers to fill the funding shortfall in the future. An employer that withdraws or partially withdraws from a multi-employer pension plan may incur a withdrawal liability for the portion of the plan’s underfunding that is allocable to the withdrawing employer under very complex actuarial and allocation rules. The failure of a withdrawing employer to fund these obligations can increase the burden of the remaining participating employers to make up the funding shortfall, which could have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows. The increase or decrease in our contributions to these multi-employer pension plans will depend on our future collective bargaining, actions taken by trustees who manage the plans, actions of other participating employers, government regulations and the actual return on assets held in the plans, among other factors.

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An adverse decline in the liability discount rate, lower-than-expected investment return on pension assets and other factors could affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or amount of pension funding contributions in future periods.

Our results of operations may be negatively affected by the amount of expense we record for our pension and other postretirement benefit plans, reductions in the fair value of plan assets and other factors. We calculate income or expense for our plans using actuarial valuations in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”).

These valuations reflect assumptions about financial market and other economic conditions, which may change based on changes in key economic indicators. The most significant year-end assumptions we use to estimate pension or other postretirement benefit income or expense for the following year are the discount rate applied to plan liabilities and the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets. In addition, we are required to make an annual measurement of plan assets and liabilities, which may result in a significant charge to stockholders’ equity. For more information, see Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition” under caption “Critical Accounting Estimates and Policies – Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits” included in this Report, as well as Note 5 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report. Although GAAP expense and pension funding contributions are impacted by different regulations and requirements, the key economic factors that affect GAAP expense would also likely affect the amount of cash we would contribute to the pension plans.

Potential pension contributions include both mandatory amounts required under federal law and discretionary contributions to improve the plans’ funded status. Higher than expected pension contributions due to a decline in the plans’ funded status as a result of declines in the discount rate or lower-than-expected investment returns on plan assets could have a material negative effect on our cash flows. Adverse capital market conditions could result in reductions in the fair value of plan assets and increase our liabilities related to such plans, adversely affecting our liquidity and results of operations.

The USW has director nomination rights through which it may influence us, and interests of the USW may not align with our interests or the interests of our stockholders, debt holders and other stakeholders.

Pursuant to agreements we have with the USW, the USW has the right, subject to certain limitations, to nominate candidates which, if elected, would constitute 40% of our Board of Directors through December 31, 2025. As a result, the directors nominated by the USW have a significant voice in the decisions of our Board of Directors. It is possible that the USW may seek to extend the term of the agreement and its right to nominate board members beyond 2025.

RISKS RELATED TO ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS AND ESG INITIATIVES.

Environmental compliance, cleanup and damage claims may decrease our cash flow and adversely affect our business.

We are subject to numerous environmental laws and regulations, including permitting and other administrative requirements, with respect to, among other things: (i) air and water emissions and discharges; (ii) the generation, storage, treatment, transportation and disposal of solid and hazardous materials; and (iii) the release of hazardous or toxic substances, pollutants and contaminants into the environment. In addition to environmental laws and regulations, environmental activists, lobbyists and consumers have targeted manufacturers for the purported impact of their operations on the environment. Compliance with existing and new environmental laws and standards or the implications of any actions by third parties are and may continue to be costly and, in some cases, unpredictable.

We have accrued and will accrue for costs that are reasonably expected to be incurred based on available information with respect to permits, fines, penalties and expenses for alleged breaches of, and compliance activities associated with, environmental laws and regulations in connection with our existing operations and investigations and environmental cleanup activities with respect to certain of our former operations. However, actual costs could exceed accrued amounts, perhaps significantly, and such expenditures could occur sooner than anticipated, which could adversely affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Additionally, we may be subject to new claims from governmental authorities or third parties related to alleged injuries to the environment, human health or natural resources, including claims with respect to waste disposal sites, the cleanup of sites currently or formerly used by us or exposure of individuals to hazardous materials. New laws or regulations or changes to existing laws and regulations may also be enacted that increase the cost or complexity of compliance. Costs related to any new investigation, cleanup or other remediation, fines or penalties, resolution of third-party claims or compliance with new or amended laws and regulations, including enhanced permitting requirements, may be significant and could have an adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

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Governmental regulation relating to greenhouse gas emissions may subject us to significant new costs and restrictions on our operations and could impact our supply chain and cost of material.

Laws enacted by governments, including the U.S. Congress, or policies of regulators, including the USEPA, could regulate greenhouse gas emissions through cap-and-trade systems, carbon taxes or other programs under which emitters would be required to buy allowances to offset emissions of greenhouse gas, pay carbon based taxes, make significant capital investments, alter manufacturing practices or curtail production. In addition, several states, including the state of Washington, in which we have manufacturing operations, have implemented and continue to consider various greenhouse gas regulation and reduction programs through legislative proposals, executive orders and ballot initiatives. Certain of our manufacturing plants use significant amounts of electricity and natural gas and certain of our plants emit amounts of greenhouse gas above certain minimum thresholds that have or may be imposed. While certain of our operations, including the melting of aluminum, require the use of natural gas to achieve the required temperatures, greenhouse gas regulations could restrict our access to natural gas and limit our ability to use natural gas and increase the price we pay for natural gas and electricity, any one of which could significantly increase our costs, reduce our competitiveness in the global economy or otherwise adversely affect our business, operations or financial results.

Furthermore, regulations or other targets for greenhouse gas emissions could impact the availability and price of energy and raw materials, which could ultimately lead to supply demand imbalances, higher costs and supply chain disruptions. Prolonged shortages or slowdowns could negatively impact our cost of goods and result in delays or non-delivery of shipments of our products. The future impact of these or other changes could be regulatory or voluntary and could impact our operations directly or indirectly through our customers or our supply chain. These potential impacts could have an adverse effect on our operations, financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Expectations relating to ESG considerations expose us to potential liabilities, increased costs, reputational harm and other adverse effects on our business.

Many governments, regulators, investors, employees, customers and other stakeholders are increasingly focused on ESG considerations relating to businesses, including climate change and greenhouse gas emissions, human capital and diversity, equity and inclusion. We make statements about our ESG goals and initiatives through information provided on our website, press statements and other communications, including through our Corporate Sustainability Report. Responding to these ESG considerations and implementation of these goals and initiatives involves risks and uncertainties, including those described under “Forward-Looking Statements,” requires investments and is impacted by factors that may be outside our control. In addition, some stakeholders may disagree with our goals and initiatives and the focus of stakeholders may change and evolve over time. Stakeholders also may have very different views on where ESG focus should be placed, including differing views of regulators in various jurisdictions in which we operate. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to achieve our goals, further our initiatives, adhere to our public statements, comply with federal, state or international ESG laws and regulations or meet evolving and varied stakeholder expectations and standards could result in legal and regulatory proceedings against us that could materially adversely affect our business, reputation, results of operations, financial condition and stock price.

RISKS RELATED TO CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY.

We are subject to risks relating to our information technology systems.

We rely on information technology networks and systems to process, transmit and store electronic information, operate our business and communicate among our locations and with our customers, suppliers and other interested parties. Such information technology systems are subject to: (i) interruption or damage from power outages; (ii) cyber security breaches and other types of unauthorized access and/or use; and (iii) cyberattacks in the form of computer viruses, worms, malicious computer programs, denial‑of‑service attacks and other illegal or illicit means. Cyberattack and security breach strategies and methods continue to evolve and become more sophisticated. Accordingly, preventing intrusions and detecting successful intrusions and defending against them continues to be more difficult and requires ever-increasing vigilance.

A breach in cyber security could result in manipulation and destruction of sensitive data, cause critical systems to malfunction, be damaged or shut down and lead to disruption of our operations and production downtimes, potentially for lengthy periods of time. Theft of personal or other confidential data and sensitive proprietary information could also occur as a result of a breach in cyber security, exposing us to costs and liabilities associated with privacy and data security laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate. Additionally, a breach could expose us, our customers, our suppliers and our employees to risks of misuse of such information. Such negative consequences of cyberattacks or security breaches could adversely affect our reputation, competitive position, business or results of operations. The lost profits and increased costs related to cyber or other security threats or disruptions may not be fully insured against or indemnified by other means.

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In addition, from time to time we may implement new technology systems or replace and/or upgrade our current information technology systems. These upgrades or replacements may not improve our productivity to the levels anticipated and may subject us to inherent costs and risks associated with implementing, replacing and updating these systems, including potential disruption of our internal control structure, substantial capital expenditures, demands on management time and other risks of delays or difficulties in transitioning to new systems or of integrating new systems into other existing systems. Our inability to prevent information technology system disruptions or to mitigate the impact of such disruptions could have an adverse effect on us.

RISKS RELATED TO TAX REGULATIONS.

We may not be able to utilize all of our net operating loss carryforwards.

Our ability to utilize our net operating loss carryforwards and other tax attributes could be limited to the extent they expire before we fully utilize them or if changes in federal or certain state tax laws reduce or eliminate our ability to use them to offset income taxes. Additionally, a change in our ownership, specifically a change in ownership of more than 50% during any period of 36 consecutive months (“ownership change”), as determined under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (“Code”), could reduce our ability to fully use our net operating loss carryforwards and other significant tax attributes.

Furthermore, our tax returns for certain past years are still subject to examination by taxing authorities, and the use of net operating loss carryforwards in future periods could trigger a review of attributes and other tax matters in years that are not otherwise subject to examination. After our net operating loss carryforwards and other significant tax attributes are fully utilized or if they become unavailable to us before we fully utilize them, our future income will not be shielded from federal and state income taxation and the funds otherwise available for general corporate purposes would be reduced.

We could engage in transactions involving our common shares that impair the use of our federal income tax attributes.

Section 382 of the Code affects our ability to use our federal income tax attributes, including our net operating loss carryforwards, following a more than 50% change in ownership during any period of 36 consecutive months, an ownership change, as determined under the Code. Certain transactions may be included in the calculation of an ownership change, including transactions involving our repurchase or issuance of our common shares. When we engage in any transaction involving our common shares that may be included in the calculation of an ownership change, our practice is to first perform the calculations necessary to confirm that our ability to use our federal income tax attributes will not be affected. These calculations are complex and reflect certain necessary assumptions. Accordingly, it is possible that we could engage in a transaction involving our common shares that causes an ownership change and inadvertently impairs the use of our federal income tax attributes. Furthermore, we may intentionally pursue a transaction that impairs the use of our federal income tax attributes if our strategy changes.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR COMMON STOCK.

Payment of dividends may not continue in the future and our payment of dividends and stock repurchases are subject to restrictions.

Our Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend for each quarter since the summer of 2007. In addition, our Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program. The future declaration and payment of dividends and the purchase of our shares under the repurchase program, if any, are at the discretion of the Board of Directors and will depend on a number of factors, including our financial and operating results, including the availability of surplus and/or net profits, liquidity position, anticipated cash requirements and regulatory rules. Additionally, our Revolving Credit Facility and the indentures for our 4.625% Senior Notes and 4.50% Senior Notes impose limitations on our ability to pay dividends and repurchase our common shares. We can give no assurance that dividends will be declared and paid, that dividends will not be reduced or that purchases of our shares pursuant to our repurchase program will occur in the future.

Delaware law and our governing documents may impede or discourage a takeover, which could adversely affect the value of our common stock.

Provisions of Delaware law and our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may discourage a change of control of our company or deter tender offers for our common stock. We are currently subject to anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law. These anti‑takeover provisions impose various impediments to the ability of a third party to acquire control of us. Additionally, provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws impose various procedural and other requirements, which could make it more difficult for stockholders to effect certain corporate actions. For example, our certificate of incorporation authorizes our Board of Directors to determine the rights, preferences and privileges and restrictions of unissued shares of preferred stock without any vote or action by our stockholders. As a result, our Board of Directors can authorize and issue shares of preferred stock with voting or conversion rights that

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could adversely affect the voting or other rights of holders of common stock. Our certificate of incorporation also divides our Board of Directors into three classes of directors who serve for staggered terms. A significant effect of a classified Board of Directors may be to deter hostile takeover attempts because an acquirer could experience delays in replacing a majority of directors. Moreover, stockholders are not permitted to call a special meeting.

RISKS RELATED TO PUBLICLY TRADED U.S. MANUFACTURING COMPANIES.

As a publicly traded U.S. manufacturing company, we are subject to a variety of other risks, each of which could adversely affect our financial position, results of operations or cash flows or the price of our common stock. These risks include but are not limited to:

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

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Item 2. Properties

The following table provides information regarding the location, size and ownership of our principal production facilities as of December 31, 2022:

Production facilities and equipment are generally in good condition and suitable for their intended uses. For additional information regarding our production facilities, see the table under Item 1. Business “Resources - Manufacturing Processes” of this Report.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

None.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

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PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Market Information

Our outstanding common stock is traded under the ticker symbol “KALU” on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

Holders

As of February 20, 2023, there were approximately 490 holders of record of our common stock.

Stock Performance Graph

The following graph compares the cumulative total shareholder return on our common stock with: (i) the Russell 2000 Index and (ii) the S&P SmallCap 600 Materials Index. We are a component of each of these indices. The graph assumes: (i) an initial investment of $100 as of December 31, 2017 and (ii) reinvestment of all dividends. The performance graph is not necessarily indicative of the future performance of our stock price.

COMPARISON OF 5 YEAR CUMULATIVE TOTAL RETURN

Among Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, the Russell 2000 Index and

the S&P SmallCap 600 Materials Index

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Issuer Repurchases of Equity Securities

The following table provides information regarding our repurchases of our common shares during the quarter ended December 31, 2022:

Item 6. [Reserved]

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Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes included in Item 8. “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K (“Report”). For a detailed discussion of items impacting the year ended December 31, 2020, as well as a year‑to‑year comparison of our financial position and results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, refer to Part II, Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis” of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2021, respectively, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on February 26, 2021 and March 1, 2022, respectively.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

This information contains certain non-GAAP financial measures. A non-GAAP financial measure is defined as a numerical measure of a company’s financial performance that excludes or includes amounts so as to be different than the most directly comparable measure calculated and presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) in the statements of income, balance sheets or statements of cash flows of the company. We have provided a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable financial measure in the accompanying tables. We have also provided discussion of the reasons we believe that presentation of the non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to investors, as well as any additional ways in which we use the non-GAAP financial measures. The non-GAAP financial measures used in the following discussions are Conversion Revenue (defined as Net Sales less the Hedged Cost of Alloyed Metal, see below in “Metal Pricing Policies” discussion), earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization adjusted for non-run-rate items (“Adjusted EBITDA”) and ratios related thereto. These measures are presented because management uses this information to monitor and evaluate financial results and trends and believes this information to also be useful for investors.

In the discussion of operating results below, we refer to certain items as “non-run-rate items.” For purposes of such discussion, non-run-rate items are items that, while they may recur from period-to-period: (i) are particularly material to results; (ii) affect costs primarily as a result of external market factors; and (iii) may not recur in future periods if the same level of underlying performance were to occur. Non-run-rate items are part of our business and operating environment but are worthy of being highlighted for the benefit of readers of our financial statements. Our intent is to allow users of the financial statements to consider our results both in light of and separately from such items. For a reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net loss, see below in “Results of Operations - Selected Operational and Financial Information.” Reconciliations of certain forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures to comparable GAAP measures are not provided because certain items required for such reconciliations are outside of our control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted or provided without unreasonable effort.

Changes in Presentation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Change from Value Added Revenue to Conversion Revenue. Beginning with the year ended December 31, 2022, we determined that we will rename our previously used non-GAAP financial measure, “value added revenue” or “VAR,” to “Conversion Revenue.” The change is based on discussions with staff of the SEC pertaining to comment letters received during 2022 and is intended to more clearly characterize the metric as a subcomponent of revenue. Separately, due to high inflationary trends and the historically unprecedented volatility of alloy costs starting in early 2022, we renegotiated certain customer contracts and amendments to existing contracts to replace future price adjustments based on higher commodity and alloy costs with adjustments that pass through commodity and alloy cost. In addition, effective January 1, 2022, we have determined that we will prospectively change our approach from including a portion of alloyed metal cost within Hedged Cost of Alloyed Metal to include all alloyed metal cost. Periods prior to 2022 have not been adjusted as these changes were deemed effective as of January 1, 2022. This approach further aligns the presentation with our business model objective of “metal price neutrality,” as described below in our “Metal Pricing Policies” discussion. We have also expanded our disclosures regarding the nature of the costs included in the Hedged Cost of Alloyed Metal amounts in light of the comments from the SEC. See the table in “Results of Operations – Selected Operational and Financial Information” below for further details.

Change to Adjusted EBITDA. We have determined that we will revise our presentation of Adjusted EBITDA to no longer adjust our operating results for the impact of last-in, first-out (“LIFO”) calculated on an annual basis to LIFO calculated on a monthly basis done at a plant level, previously identified as “Adjustments to plant-level LIFO.” This change is based on discussions with the SEC pertaining to comment letters received during 2022. For comparability, references to prior periods’ Adjusted EBITDA have been updated to show the effect of this change. See the table in “Results of Operations – Selected Operational and Financial Information” below for further details.

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Metal Pricing Policies

Our pricing policies and hedging program are intended to significantly reduce or eliminate the impact on our profitability of fluctuations in the underlying price of primary and scrap, or recycled, aluminum, our main raw material, and certain alloys so that our earnings are predominantly associated with the conversion of aluminum to semi‑fabricated mill products. To allow users of our financial statements to consider the impact of aluminum and alloy cost on our Net sales, we disclose Net sales as well as Conversion Revenue, which is Net sales less the Hedged Cost of Alloyed Metal. As used in this discussion, “Hedged Cost of Alloyed Metal” is the cost of aluminum at the average Midwest Transaction Price (“Midwest Price”) plus the cost of alloying elements and any realized gains and/or losses on settled hedges related to the metal sold in the referenced period. The average Midwest Price of aluminum reflects the primary aluminum supply/demand dynamics in North America. For a reconciliation of Conversion Revenue to Net sales, see below in “Results of Operations - Selected Operational and Financial Information.”

Molten Metal and Magnesium Supply Chain Issues

As we have previously discussed, our rolling mill facility located in Warrick County, Indiana (“Warrick”) faced specific challenges with the September 2021 force majeure declaration of its primary magnesium supplier, US Magnesium, LLC (“US Mag”), which resulted in a significant reduction in deliveries while we were also being impacted by the operational challenges Alcoa Corporation was experiencing at its adjacent smelter, which supplies molten metal to Warrick. In June 2022, US Mag deliveries unexpectedly stopped while performance of the smelter also rapidly deteriorated, negatively impacting Warrick’s operating efficiency and financial performance. As a result of the abrupt and unexpected decline in magnesium supply, on July 7, 2022, we declared force majeure at Warrick due to the limited availability of magnesium utilized in the production of our beverage and food packaging products, reducing our ability to produce those products at the time.

After successfully securing and qualifying magnesium from additional sources, on September 6, 2022 we announced that we had lifted our force majeure declaration and have now sourced Warrick's magnesium requirements through 2023 and beyond. We believe our supply base is now well diversified, as it is not reliant on any one single supplier or geographical region. In addition, the molten metal supply at Warrick has improved to an acceptable level and we have secured access to alternative sources of molten metal to further diversify our Warrick metal supply and mitigate the risk of further smelter operational disruptions.

Management Review of 2022 and Outlook for the Future

Review

The full year 2022 was a pivotal year in our evolution as we believe we laid the necessary groundwork to position ourselves for long-term, sustainable growth despite the numerous challenges we encountered, including unprecedented supply chain disruptions, inflationary cost pressures and labor turnover, which negatively impacted our financial performance. We continue to work with our customers to negotiate improvements to commodity price adjustments to mitigate the impact of inflationary and volatile commodity costs on our business and improve our margin profile. We are prioritizing investments in our growth through our roll coat capacity expansion project at Warrick, which we expect will become operational by mid-to-late 2024. In addition, we remain well positioned to service the recovery we have been experiencing in aerospace and continued demand for general engineering (plate) following the completion of a long planned, major outage at our Spokane, Washington (“Trentwood”) facility in the third quarter of 2022.

Outlook

Looking ahead, we remain intently focused on continuing to pursue cost reductions in our operations, as well as improving efficiencies and implementing commercial actions to increase our margins. We believe the strategy we have in place should lead to improved performance in the year ahead with our full year 2022 Adjusted EBITDA representing a temporary low point. While our efforts will take time to manifest, we are confident in our ability to execute given our solid market position as a key supplier, diverse end markets with strong secular growth characteristics, deep customer relationships and multi-year contracts with strategic partners.

We remain well positioned to navigate the current demand environment prevailing in our end markets in 2023. We expect demand in commercial aerospace to continue to strengthen throughout 2023 towards levels before the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID‑19”) pandemic with both business jet and defense remaining strong. In our beverage and food packaging (“Packaging”) end market, we expect our operations will return to more normalized levels in 2023 now that the most significant supply chain issues have been resolved, despite continuing impacts from higher metal costs and a lag in passing through certain costs. General engineering (“GE Products”) end market demand is expected to soften for plate and rod and bar products on stable pricing levels as distributors destock inventories after taking advantage of lower metal prices in the second half of 2022. In the automotive end market (“Automotive Extrusions”), we do not expect a meaningful recovery until mid-to-late 2023.

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We are cautiously optimistic our consolidated adjusted EBITDA margin (Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of Conversion Revenue) will begin to strengthen in 2023 as we return to more normalized costs, improved efficiencies and continued commercial actions.

Results of Operations

Fiscal 2022 Summary

Consolidated Selected Operational and Financial Information

The following data should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in Item 8. “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Report.

Net Sales. We reported Net sales for 2022 of $3,427.9 million, compared to $2,622.0 million for 2021. The increase in Net sales reflected a 132.6 million pound (12%) increase in shipment volume and a $0.39/lb increase in average realized sales price per pound. The shipment volume increase reflected: (i) a 113.6 million pound (21%) increase in Packaging reflecting a full year of shipments during 2022 as a result of our Warrick acquisition, which was completed on March 31, 2021, partially impacted by reduced shipments in the second half of 2022 due to the third quarter force majeure event at Warrick; (ii) a 24.9 million pound (15%) increase in Aero/HS products reflecting continued strength in demand for our business jet and defense related applications, and improved demand for commercial aerospace as we continued to see the recovery in air travel and higher shipments of new aircraft from both major airframe producers, partially offset by constrained plate shipments during the quarter ended September 30, 2022 due to our planned major outage at our Trentwood facility; (iii) a 5.7 million pound (2%) increase in GE products reflecting continued strong underlying demand for semiconductor plate and industrial and machine tools; and (iv) a 2.5 million pound (3%) increase in Automotive Extrusions, which was relatively flat over prior year, driven by the shortage of semiconductors and industry supply chain issues that impacted the North American automotive production levels. The shipment volume increase was partially offset by a 14.1 million pound (54%) decrease in our other industrial end market application (“Other products”). The increase in average realized sales price per pound reflected a $0.28/lb (21%) increase in average Hedged Cost of Alloyed Metal prices per pound and an $0.11/lb (11%) increase in Conversion Revenue per pound reflecting higher pricing and surcharges to offset higher inflationary and commodity related costs. See the table in “Selected Operational and Financial Information” below for further details.

Cost of Products Sold, Excluding Depreciation and Amortization and Other Items (“Cost of products sold”). Cost of products sold for 2022 totaled $3,180.2 million, or 93% of Net sales, compared to $2,348.1 million, or 90% of Net sales, in 2021. The increase during 2022 compared to 2021 of $832.1 million reflected: (i) a $534.4 million increase in Hedged Cost of Alloyed Metal and (ii) a $297.7 million increase in net manufacturing conversion and other costs. Of the $534.4 million increase in Hedged Cost of Alloyed Metal, $355.6 million was due to higher hedged metal cost and $178.8 million was due to higher shipment volume, as discussed above in “Net Sales.” The $297.7 million increase in net manufacturing conversion and other costs was primarily due to: (i) a $120.9 million increase related to higher sales, primarily due to a full year of shipments during 2022 as a result of our Warrick acquisition, which was

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completed on March 31, 2021; (ii) an $85.9 million increase in manufacturing costs due to lower efficiencies and higher employee related costs; (iii) $49.8 million of higher benefits and overhead costs; (iv) $28.4 million of higher energy, freight and metal costs driven by inflation, transportation bottlenecks and supply chain inefficiencies; and (v) $8.3 million of higher planned major maintenance costs. See “Selected Operational and Financial Information” below for a further discussion of the comparative results of operations for 2022 and 2021.

Depreciation and Amortization. Depreciation and amortization for 2022 was $106.9 million compared to $91.5 million for 2021. The increase of $15.4 million was primarily attributable to a full year of Warrick operations.

Selling, General, Administrative, Research and Development (“SG&A and R&D”). SG&A and R&D expense totaled $110.9 million in 2022 compared to $118.8 million in 2021. The decrease in 2022 compared with 2021 was primarily due to a $16.8 million decrease in legal, consulting and outsourced service expenses primarily related to the completion of Warrick integration activities, partially offset by: (i) a $6.7 million increase due to the addition of Warrick operations and (ii) a $2.4 million increase in salaries and benefits.

Goodwill Impairment. Goodwill impairment of $20.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 reflected our write-off of the goodwill we obtained from our acquisition of Warrick. See Note 4 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for further details.

Restructuring Costs (Benefit). Restructuring costs (benefit) reflects the impacts of our restructuring plans initiated in 2022 and 2020. See Note 12 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for further information regarding the restructuring plans.

Other Operating Charges (Income), Net. Other operating charges (income), net, of $3.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022 was primarily due to the impairment of our favorable commodity contract intangible asset. See Note 4 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for further details.

Interest Expense. Interest expense represents cash and non-cash interest expense incurred on our unsecured senior notes and our Revolving Credit Facility, net of capitalized interest. See Note 9 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for further information regarding interest expense, capitalized interest expense and a discussion of our debt and credit facilities that were in effect during each of the years 2022 and 2021.

Other Income (Expense), Net. See Note 9 and Note 13 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for details.

Income Tax Benefit. The income tax benefit for 2022 was $8.3 million, resulting in an effective tax rate of 21.9%. The difference between the effective tax rate and the projected blended statutory tax rate for 2022 was primarily due to: (i) an increase of 3% due to various permanent items not deductible for tax purposes; (ii) an increase of 2% related to non-deductible compensation expense; and (iii) an increase of 1% related to state taxes, partially offset by a decrease of 6% related to a Federal Research and Development Credit.

The income tax benefit for 2021 was $5.5 million, resulting in an effective tax rate of 22.9%. There was no material difference between the effective tax rate and the projected blended statutory tax rate for 2021.

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Selected Operational and Financial Information

The following data should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto included in Part II, Item 8. “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Report.

The following table provides selected operational and financial information (in millions of dollars):

Adjusted EBITDA for 2022 was $42.9 million lower than Adjusted EBITDA for 2021. Adjusted EBITDA for 2022 reflected a full year of Packaging volume during 2022 as a result of our Warrick acquisition on March 31, 2021, offset by approximately $73.0 million of incremental costs associated with magnesium and metal supply chain issues at our packaging operations, see above in “Molten Metal and Magnesium Supply Chain Issues,” coupled with the planned outage at our Trentwood facility. In addition, we had inflation-driven higher energy, manufacturing and employee related cost that were not fully recovered through pricing increases. See above in “Consolidated Selected Operational and Financial Information” for further details.

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The following table provides our shipment and Conversion Revenue information (in millions of dollars, except shipments and Conversion Revenue per pound) by end market applications:

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Liquidity and Capital Resources

Summary

The following table summarizes our liquidity (in millions of dollars):

We place our cash in bank deposits and money market funds with high credit quality financial institutions. Cash equivalents primarily consist of money market funds, which are highly liquid.

See Note 16 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for information regarding restricted cash at December 31, 2022.

There were no borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility during the years ending December 31, 2022 or December 31, 2021. See “Sources of Liquidity” below for a further discussion of subsequent borrowing activity.

Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities (in millions of dollars):

Cash used in operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2022 reflected results of business activity described within “Consolidated Selected Operational and Financial Information” above, as well as the following working capital changes: (i) an increase in inventory of $120.8 million, primarily driven by higher inventory pounds built at our Warrick facility to mitigate the impact of supply chain disruptions related to magnesium and hot metal supply and at our Trentwood facility to prepare for the planned outages associated with our large stretcher refurbishment, as well as higher per pound inventory cost due to higher metal prices in ending inventory; (ii) a decrease in accounts payable of $61.2 million, primarily due to timing of purchases and a decrease in period ending metal prices; and (iii) a decrease in accounts receivable of $15.0 million due to the timing and mix of sales, as well as a decrease in period ending metal prices.

Cash provided by operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 reflected results of business activity for the year ended December 31, 2021, as well as the following working capital changes: (i) an increase in accounts payable of $112.5 million, primarily driven by Warrick payables added during the year ended December 31, 2021 and higher metal cost; (ii) an increase in trade and other receivables of $90.3 million, primarily driven by Warrick receivables added during the year ended December 31, 2021 and the remainder due to the timing and mix of sales and an increase in metal prices; and (iii) an increase in inventory of $43.5 million due primarily to higher inventory pounds to satisfy increased demand, as well as a higher per pound inventory cost.

See Statements of Consolidated Cash Flows included in this Report for further details on our cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities for the years ended December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021.

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Sources of Liquidity

We believe our available cash and cash equivalents, borrowing availability under the Revolving Credit Facility and funds generated from operations are our most significant sources of liquidity, and that our Revolving Credit Facility and unsecured notes have covenants that allow us to operate our business with limited restrictions and significant flexibility for the foreseeable future. While we believe these sources will be sufficient to finance our working capital requirements, planned capital expenditures, investments, debt service obligations and other cash requirements for at least the next 12 months, and while we also believe that alternative sources of liquidity will remain available in the event we seek to add liquidity for opportunistic or other reasons in the future, our ability to fund such cash requirements will depend upon our future operating performance (which will be affected by prevailing economic conditions) and financial, business and other factors, some of which are beyond our control.

We do not believe that covenants contained in the Revolving Credit Facility are reasonably likely to limit our ability to raise additional debt or equity should we choose to do so during the next 12 months, nor do we believe it is likely that during the next 12 months we will trigger the availability threshold that would require measuring and maintaining a fixed charge coverage ratio.

At February 20, 2023, we had $10.2 million in outstanding borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility after repaying $19.3 million on total borrowings of $29.5 million incurred subsequent to December 31, 2022. See Note 9 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for a description of our Revolving Credit Facility.

We engage in certain customer-based supply chain financing programs to accelerate the receipt of payment for outstanding accounts receivable from certain customers. Costs of these programs are typically reimbursed to us by the customer. Receivables transferred under these customer-based supply chain financing programs generally meet the requirements to be accounted for as sales resulting in the derecognition of such receivables from our consolidated balance sheets. Receivables involved with these customer‑based supply chain finance programs for the year ended December 31, 2022 constituted approximately 47% of our Net sales. See Note 1 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for further details with respect to these supply chain financing programs.

Debt

See Note 9 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for further details with respect to the 4.50% Senior Notes due 2031 (“4.50% Senior Notes”) and 4.625% Senior Notes due 2028 (“4.625% Senior Notes”) and the redemption of our 6.50% Senior Notes due 2025 (“6.50% Senior Notes”).

We do not believe that covenants in the indenture governing the 4.50% Senior Notes and 4.625% Senior Notes are reasonably likely to limit our ability to obtain additional debt or equity financing should we choose to do so during the next 12 months.

Capital Expenditures and Investments

We strive to strengthen our competitive position across our end markets through strategic capital investment. Significant investments over the past decade have positioned us well with increased capacity and expanded manufacturing capabilities while more recent capital projects have focused on further enhancing manufacturing cost efficiency, improving product quality and promoting operational security, which we believe are critical to maintaining and strengthening our position in an increasingly competitive market environment. A significant portion of our capital spending over the past several years related to the modernization project at our Trentwood rolling mill, which focused on equipment upgrades throughout the process flow to reduce conversion costs, increase efficiency and further improve our competitive cost position on all products produced at our Trentwood facility. In addition, a significant portion of the investment also focused on modernizing legacy equipment and the process flow for thin gauge plate to achieve KaiserSelect® quality enhancements for these Aero/HS products and GE products. These improvements have allowed us to gain incremental manufacturing capacity to enable future sales growth. In 2022, we continued spending on our previously announced capital project to add a fourth roll coat line at our Warrick facility to increase our capacity for higher margin coated packaging product. Total capital expenditures were $142.5 million in 2022, of which $74.7 million related to the new roll coat line and $67.8 million primarily related to critical sustaining capital projects, and $58.0 million in 2021, primarily related to critical sustaining capital projects.

Our capital investment plans remain focused on supporting demand growth through capacity expansion, sustaining our operations, enhancing product quality and increasing operating efficiencies. We anticipate total capital spending in 2023 of approximately $170.0 million to $190.0 million, of which approximately 60% of total spending will be focused on growth initiatives, primarily reflecting continued investment in the new roll coat line at Warrick. We will continue to deploy capital thoughtfully to ensure that investment decisions align with demand expectations in order to maximize the earnings potential of the business and maintain financial strength and flexibility.

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Capital investments will be funded using cash generated from operations, available cash and cash equivalents, borrowings under the Revolving Credit Facility and/or other third-party financing arrangements. The level of anticipated capital expenditures may be adjusted from time to time depending on our business plans, our price outlook for fabricated aluminum products, our ability to maintain adequate liquidity and other factors. No assurance can be provided as to the timing of any such expenditures or the operational benefits expected therefrom.

Dividends

We have consistently paid a quarterly cash dividend since the second quarter of 2007 to holders of our common stock, including holders of restricted stock, and have increased the dividend in each year since 2011. Nevertheless, as in the past, the future declaration and payment of dividends, if any, will be at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on a number of factors, including our financial, including the availability of surplus and/or net profits, and operating results, financial position and anticipated cash requirements and contractual restrictions under our Revolving Credit Facility, the indentures for our 4.50% Senior Notes and 4.625% Senior Notes or other indebtedness we may incur in the future. We can give no assurance that dividends will be declared and paid in the future.

We also pay quarterly dividend equivalents to the holders of certain restricted stock units. Holders of performance shares are not paid a quarterly dividend equivalent, but instead are entitled to receive, in connection with the issuance of underlying shares of common stock for performance shares that ultimately vest, a one-time payment equal to the dividends such holder would have received if the number of such shares of common stock so issued had been held of record by such holder from the date of grant of such performance shares through the date of such issuance.

See our Statements of Consolidated Stockholders’ Equity and Note 18 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for information regarding dividends declared during 2022 and 2021 and subsequent to December 31, 2022.

Repurchases of Common Stock

We suspended share repurchases as of March 2020. We will continue to assess share repurchases as a part of our capital allocation priorities and strategic investment opportunities identified to support further growth in our business. At December 31, 2022, $93.1 million remained authorized and available for future repurchases of common stock under our stock repurchase program. See our Statements of Consolidated Stockholders’ Equity included in this Report for information regarding minimum statutory tax withholding obligations arising during 2022 and 2021 in connection with the vesting of non-vested shares, restricted stock units and performance shares.

Environmental Commitments and Contingencies

See Note 10 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for information regarding our environmental commitments and contingencies.

Contractual Obligations, Commercial Commitments and Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

The discussion below summarizes our significant contractual obligations, commercial commitments and off-balance sheet arrangements as of December 31, 2022.

Principal and Interest on 4.50% Senior Notes and 4.625% Senior Notes. See Note 9 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for information, including the timing of principal and interest payments, associated with our debt.

Standby Letters of Credit. Standby Letters of Credit represents letters of credit issued under our Revolving Credit Facility. The letters of credit provide financial assurance of our payment of obligations, primarily related to workers’ compensation. The specific timing of payments with respect to such matters is uncertain. The letters of credit generally automatically renew every 12 months and terminate when the underlying obligations no longer require assurance or upon the maturity of our Revolving Credit Facility in April 2027. See Note 9 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for further information.

Uncertain Tax Liabilities. At December 31, 2022, we had uncertain tax positions which ultimately could result in tax payments. See Note 14 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for further information.

Deferred Compensation Plan Liability. As of December 31, 2022, we had deferred compensation plan liabilities for certain key employees, which were contingent upon investment performance, vesting and other eligibility requirements, including retirement

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dates. See Note 5 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for further information, including the total expense related to all benefit plans.

Operating Leases. Operating lease liabilities represent multi-year obligations for certain manufacturing facilities, warehouses, office space and equipment as of December 31, 2022. See Note 3 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for the maturity of our lease liabilities associated with our operating lease portfolio.

Finance Leases. Finance lease liabilities represent non-cancelable capital commitments as of December 31, 2022. We expect finance leases to be funded through available cash generated from our operations, cash and cash equivalents, borrowings under our Revolving Credit Facility and/or other third-party financing arrangements. See Note 3 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for the maturity of our lease liabilities associated with our finance lease portfolio.

Pension and OPEB. See Note 5 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for additional information regarding the future net benefits we expect to pay with respect to our pension plans and our healthcare and life insurance postretirement benefit plan (“OPEB”).

Salaried VEBA Variable Contributions. See Note 5 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for additional information regarding our variable cash contributions to the voluntary employees’ beneficiary association (“VEBA”) that provides benefits for certain eligible retirees and their surviving spouses and eligible dependents (“Salaried VEBA”).

VEBA administrative fees. We are required to pay $0.3 million in annual administrative fees related to the VEBA that provides benefits for eligible retirees represented by certain unions and their surviving spouses and eligible dependents through September 2025. See Note 5 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for additional information.

Purchase Obligations. Cash outlays for purchase obligations consist primarily of commitments to purchase primary aluminum, recycled scrap aluminum, other alloys, energy and equipment. We have various contracts with suppliers of metals that require us to purchase minimum quantities of these metals in future years based primarily at the associated metal price at the time of payment. We believe the minimum required purchase quantities are lower than our current requirements for these metals. Physical delivery commitments with energy companies are in place to cover our exposure to fluctuations in electricity and natural gas prices and are based on fixed contractual rates and quantities. Equipment purchase obligations are based on scheduled payments to equipment manufacturers.

Commitment Fees on Revolving Credit Facility. Future commitment fees on our Revolving Credit Facility are estimated based on the amount of unused credit under the facility at December 31, 2022 and assuming no extension of terms beyond the current maturity date of our Revolving Credit Facility, which is in April 2027. No borrowings were outstanding under our Revolving Credit Facility either throughout the year or as of December 31, 2022. See Note 9 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report for additional information. See “Sources of Liquidity” above for a discussion of subsequent borrowing activity.

In addition to our off-balance sheet items discussed above:

Critical Accounting Estimates and Policies

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. In connection with the preparation of our financial statements, we are required to make assumptions and estimates about future events and apply judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue and expenses and the related disclosures. We base our assumptions, estimates and judgments on historical experience, current trends and other factors that management believes to be relevant at the time our consolidated financial statements are prepared. On a regular basis, management reviews the accounting policies, assumptions, estimates and judgments to ensure that our financial statements are presented fairly and in accordance with GAAP. However, because future events and their effects cannot be determined with certainty, actual results could differ from our assumptions and estimates and such differences could be material.

In addition to the accounting estimates we discuss in Note 1 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report, management believes that the following accounting estimates are critical to aid in fully understanding and evaluating our reported financial results and require management’s most difficult, subjective or complex judgments, resulting from the need to make

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estimates about the effects of matters that are inherently uncertain. Management has reviewed these critical accounting estimates and related disclosures with the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors.

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New Accounting Pronouncements

For a discussion of all recently adopted and recently issued but not yet adopted accounting pronouncements, see Note 1 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report.

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

The following quantitative and qualitative disclosures about market risk should be read in conjunction with Note 8 and Note 11 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Report. Our operating results are sensitive to changes in the prices of primary aluminum, certain alloying metals, natural gas, electricity and foreign currency, and also depend to a significant degree upon the volume and mix of products sold to customers. We have historically utilized hedging transactions to lock in a specified price or range of prices for certain products which we sell or consume in our production process, and to mitigate our exposure to changes in energy prices.

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Aluminum

In 2022 and 2021, settlements of derivative contracts covering 271.9 million pounds and 187.2 million pounds, respectively, hedged shipments sold on pricing terms that created aluminum price risk for us. At December 31, 2022, we had derivative contracts with respect to approximately 60.5 million pounds and 2.5 million pounds to hedge sales to be made in 2023 and 2024, respectively, on pricing terms that create aluminum price risk for us.

Based on the aluminum derivative positions held by us to hedge firm-price customer sales agreements, we estimate that a $0.10/lb decrease in the London Metal Exchange (“LME”) market price of aluminum as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, with all other variables held constant, would have resulted in an unrealized mark-to-market loss of $6.3 million and $8.0 million, respectively, with corresponding changes to the net fair value of our aluminum derivative positions. Additionally, we estimate that a $0.05/lb decrease in the Midwest premium for aluminum as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, with all other variables held constant, would have resulted in an unrealized mark-to-market loss of $3.2 million and $4.0 million, respectively, with corresponding changes to the net fair value of our aluminum derivative positions.

Alloying Metals

We are exposed to the risk of fluctuating prices of certain alloying metals, especially copper, zinc and magnesium, to the extent that changes in their prices do not highly correlate with price changes for aluminum. Copper, zinc, magnesium and certain other metals are used in our remelt operations to cast rolling ingot and extrusion billet with the proper chemistry for our products. From time to time, we enter into forward contract swaps and/or physical delivery commitments with third parties to mitigate our risk from fluctuations in the prices of these alloys. As of December 31, 2022, we had forward swap contracts with settlement dates designed to align with the timing of scheduled purchases of zinc and copper (“Alloying Metals”) by our manufacturing facilities. We estimate that a $0.10/lb decrease in the market price of Alloying Metals as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, with all other variables held constant, would have resulted in an unrealized mark-to-market loss of $0.1 million and $0.6 million, respectively, with corresponding changes to the net fair value of our Alloying Metals derivative positions.

Energy

We are exposed to risk of fluctuating prices for natural gas and electricity. We, from time to time, in the ordinary course of business, enter into hedging transactions and/or physical delivery commitments with firm prices with third parties to mitigate our risk from fluctuations in natural gas and electricity prices. We estimate that a $1.00 per mmbtu decrease in natural gas prices would have resulted in an unrealized mark-to-market loss of $3.5 million and $5.2 million as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively, with corresponding changes to the net fair value of our natural gas derivative positions. We estimate that a $5.00 per Mwh decrease in electricity prices as of December 31, 2021, would have resulted in an unrealized mark‑to‑market loss of $1.1 million with corresponding changes to the net fair value of our electricity derivative positions. As of December 31, 2022, we had no outstanding electricity derivative positions.

Foreign Currency

As of December 31, 2022, we hedged certain lease transactions and equipment purchases denominated in euros and British pounds using forward swap contracts with settlement dates through February 2024. We estimate that a 10% decrease in the exchange rate of our hedged foreign currencies to U.S. dollars would have resulted in $0.1 million and an immaterial unrealized mark-to-market loss as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, respectively, with corresponding changes to the net fair value of our foreign currency derivative positions.

Our primary foreign exchange exposure is the operating costs of our London, Ontario facility. We estimate that a 10% change in the Canadian dollar exchange rate as of December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021 would have resulted in an annual operating cost impact of $2.6 million and $2.2 million, respectively.

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KAISER ALUMINUM CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of

Kaiser Aluminum Corporation

Franklin, Tennessee

Opinions on the Financial Statements and Internal Control over Financial Reporting

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Kaiser Aluminum Corporation and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of (loss) income, comprehensive (loss) income, stockholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “financial statements”). We also have audited the Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Also, in our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control — Integrated Framework (2013) issued by COSO.

Basis for Opinion

The Company’s management is responsible for these financial statements, for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements and an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audits to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud, and whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.

Our audits of the financial statements included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures to respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audits also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinions.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control over Financial Reporting

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM (CONTINUED)

prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Critical Audit Matters

The critical audit matters communicated below are matters arising from the current-period audit of the financial statements that were communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

Revenue Recognition—Refer to Notes 1 and 17 to the financial statements

Critical Audit Matter Description

The Company recognizes revenue as it fulfills their performance obligations and transfers control of products to its customers. For products that have no alternative use and for which the Company has an enforceable right to payment (including a reasonable profit) throughout the production process, revenue is recognized over time. In general, revenue recognized over time primarily relates to the Company’s Aero/HS products and Automotive Extrusions, with the revenue for the remainder of its products recognized at a point in time. For contracts recognized over time, control transfer occurs incrementally during the Company’s production process as progress is made on fulfilling the performance obligation. The Company uses the input method of determining the progress, capturing direct costs beginning at the point that billet or cast ingot is introduced into production at either the extrusion phase or the rolling phase, respectively. For products in production, the Company recognizes revenue using the cost incurred to date plus an estimate of reasonable margin. As of December 31, 2022, net sales were $3,427.9 million, of which $645.0 million was recognized over time.
 

Given the volume of contracts that are recognized over time and the complexity of the determination of over time revenue, we identified revenue for over time contracts as a critical audit matter.
 

How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit

Our audit procedures related to revenue recognized over time, included the following, among others:

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM (CONTINUED)

Environmental Contingencies—Refer to Notes 1 and 10 to the financial statements

Critical Audit Matter Description

The Company is subject to a number of environmental laws and regulations, to potential fines or penalties assessed for alleged breaches of such laws and regulations and to potential claims based upon such laws and regulations. The Company records an environmental loss contingency whenever a contingency is probable and reasonably estimable. At December 31, 2022, the Company’s $17.7 million accrual for expected environmental costs is included in other accrued liabilities and long-term liabilities and represents the Company’s undiscounted estimate of costs reasonably expected to be incurred based on presently enacted laws and regulations, existing requirements, currently available facts, existing technology and its assessment of the likely remediation actions to be taken.

We identified environmental contingencies as a critical audit matter because auditing management’s estimate of the costs reasonably expected to be incurred for environmental contingencies involved especially subjective judgment and an increased extent of audit procedures, including the need to involve environmental specialists.

How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit

Our audit procedures related to management’s estimate of the costs reasonably expected to be incurred for environmental contingencies included the following, among others:

Business Combinations, Goodwill and Intangible Assets — Refer to Notes 1 and 4 to the financial statements

Critical Audit Matter Description

The Company’s evaluation of goodwill for impairment involves the comparison of the fair value of each reporting unit to its carrying value. The Company estimates the fair value using a combination of an income approach and a market-based approach. The income approach incorporates the use of cash flow projections and a discount rate that are developed using market participant-based assumptions. The cash-flow projections are based on Company’s best estimates of the long-term forecasts of the business, market prices, projected cash flows and the rate used in the discounting of those cash flows. The carrying value of the Warrick reporting unit exceeded the fair value as of the measurement date and, therefore, management has recognized an impairment of $20.5 million as of December 31, 2022. Determining the fair values of the reporting unit requires management to make significant estimates and assumptions related to future revenue and earnings projections.

We identified the assumptions related to estimating the amount and timing of expected future revenue and earnings used in determining the fair values of the Warrick reporting unit as a critical audit matter because of the significant judgments involved in

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM (CONTINUED)

estimating these amounts. Performing audit procedures to evaluate the reasonableness of these estimates and assumptions required a high degree of auditor judgment and an increased extent of effort, including the need to involve our fair value specialists.

How the Critical Audit Matter Was Addressed in the Audit

Our audit procedures related to the expected amount and timing of future revenue and earnings used to estimate the fair value of the Warrick reporting unit included the following, among others:

/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP

Costa Mesa, California
February 23, 2023

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2002.

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KAISER ALUMINUM CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

The accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements are an integral part of these statements.

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KAISER ALUMINUM CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES

STATEMENTS OF CONSOLIDATED (LOSS) INCOME