Feb 24 (Reuters) - U.S. aluminium company Alcoa Corp ( AA ) is looking to sell 10 of its closed or curtailed sites to the data centre industry, with the first ​sale set to be completed by the ‌end of June, its CEO said on Tuesday.

Aluminium producers, which need electricity for ⁠the energy-intensive smelting process, face stiff competition for supplies ⁠from power-hungry data centres, but the upsurge ‌in demand also ‌creates an opportunity to sell stakes in some sites chosen because of their ​proximity to plentiful energy sources. 

Alcoa ( AA ) ‌rival Century Aluminum this month sold its idled Hawesville smelting site to a data centre firm, ​retaining a 6.8% stake.

"We have ​10 ‌sites that we're focused on selling into that space," Alcoa ( AA ) CEO Bill Oplinger said at the BMO Global Metals, ⁠Mining and Critical Minerals Conference in Florida. "We think we'll ⁠have the first sale in the first half of this year. There are two that could follow quickly after that."

HOW MUCH EXTRA VALUE COULD THERE BE?

Oplinger said Alcoa ( AA ) had ⁠historically ‌looked to maximise value and minimise liabilities ‌when selling assets. The question now is how much difference ⁠the advent of AI will mean to valuations.

"What we're really trying to understand is the value in a data centre world or an AI world of our individual sites," he said.

Oplinger said high aluminium prices had not destroyed demand in the U.S., but ​low prices for raw material alumina have left 50% of refineries globally cash negative. He said this would lead to ​cutbacks in alumina production, although ‌not from Alcoa ( AA ).