“This investment will strengthen Hydro’s position in the Asian aluminum market,” says Harald Aasheim, senior vice president and head of Commercial Products in Aluminum Metal. “We enter into a partnership with people who have been working with Hydro over time. With local knowledge and Hydro’s global technology support, we are confident this remelt plant will serve our customers well.”

Expanding market

Taiwan is the third-largest extrusion market in Asia, with a total extrusion ingot consumption of about 400,000 tons – and the market is expected to grow. Hydro is currently supplying this market from its primary production plant in Kurri Kurri and its part owned Tomago-smelter, both in Australia.

Hydro is committed to further expanding its activity in Asia in the years to come, and the Qatalum primary aluminum smelter under construction in Qatar will facilitate this ambition. Hydro will market and sell the entire production of 585,000 tons from Qatalum, which is expected to start production in late 2009. Full production is expected mid-2010

North American market

Hydro is committed to recycling and has the expertise and proprietary remelt technology to produce primary-grade billet with a high recycled content. In North America, Hydro’s prior investment in two greenfield remelt operations (Commerce, Texas and Henderson, Kentucky), and upgrades to existing North American casthouses, further illustrate that commitment. Today, Hydro has more than 450,000 metric tons of remelt casting capacity in the US