Qatalum on target
The new 585,000-tonne Qatalum smelter in Qatar, which we are building with our partner Qatar Petroleum, was about 60 percent complete by the end of 2008, on schedule and within its budget frame for start-up around the end of 2009. Once on stream, Qatalum will be one of the most cost-efficient smelters in the world, positioned within the first decile on the industry cost curve. The total estimated cost of the Qatalum project is USD 5.6 billion, of which Hydro’s share is USD 2.8 billion. All site preparation work, building foundations, and related work were complete and the main ongoing activity consists of the construction of buildings, storage silos and harbor facilities. By the end of 2008, there were about 16,300 people working at the site.
Corrective measures in response to market situation
Hydro has made wide-ranging adjustments in response to the severe drop in aluminium markets, and has announced reductions in its primary aluminium production of 23 percent, representing about 400,000 tonnes per year of our higher-cost production capacity. These measures will improve the average cost of our smelter system. Production of remelted metal at Hydro’s casthouses has been cut by 45 percent, or around 500,000 tonnes per year. Alumina production at the part-owned Alpart refinery in Jamaica has been reduced by 50 percent. Hydro has also taken out significant capacity in its downstream operations through shift reductions and has implemented cost-cutting measures throughout the company.
Key figures
