Karl Eichinger has served as CFO in Nenzing, the Hydro extrusion plant in Austria, as CFO in the Extrusion head office in Lausanne and took over as sector president for Hydro’s Extrusion Eurasia sector in 2010.

Future/Market outlook for extrusions in general, EE markets in particular?

In European countries extrusion demand is partly a result of the general economic fdevelopment serving all industrial sectors and the building activities. In addition aluminium is taking part in the increasing lightweighting of cars and other transportation vehicles such as trains and aircraft. For the time being we see healthy economic development in Northern Europe whereas the south is struggling to regain growth after the economic crises that severely hit their building sector and subsequently their whole economy.

The solar industry has become a new major market for aluminium. Aluminium will also play a role when it comes to building infrastructure for the generation of other renewable energies as they develop. These are industries that are strongly linked to national political decisions (energy balances, promotion of renewable energies) and thus their importance varies from country to country and over time. Germany is showing a very strong drive in solar, whereas other countries have not yet developed stable policies when it comes to renewables. We expect a strong growth here as the markets develop and Hydro Extrusion can play a role due to our European coverage and ability to provide experience across borders.

Hydro EE market position today?

Extrusion Eurasia has strong market positions in all European countries including a very strong position in Scandinavia where we are one of the major provider of extrusions.

Main competitive strengths/ capacities?

Hydro Extrusion Eurasia is able to combine the strength of being a local player with that of being a global company. Not many extruders are part of a global company or have access to the extensive metallurgical competence that Extrusion Eurasia can provide to the market. This makes Extrusion Eurasia unique in the sense that we can support our customers on local terms with local business culture understanding local customers issues when serving their customers. We can also provide them with solutions based on global experiences and a deep understanding of aluminium as a material and of the extrusion process and the capabilities of extrusions as such. In most markets we are known as the ‘solution provider’ – providing solutions when it comes to technical issues, creative design of extrusions, supply processes, flexibility in serving and logistics - i.e. a real partner for complex customers as well as for those with less complex demands. Many customers place a lot of value on the fact that they can trust us with shortterm business as well as on a longer-term horizon

Aluminium extrusions in use can help reduce the footprint of the products of which it is a part, for instance through providing lighter weight solutions for cars and energy efficient facades.

Main opportunities and challenges?

Aluminium has a given CO2 and GHG footprint through its process from bauxite to primary aluminium. It is our challenge to make sure that this footprint is being reduced to the technical minimum and Hydro is continuously developing improved technologies for making primary aluminium. In addition, aluminium extrusions in use can help reduce the footprint of the products of which it is a part, for instance through providing lighter weight solutions for cars, energy efficient facades, high performing windows and so on. As a company, we work on identify and help in the improvement of solutions where aluminium makes a difference - this is part of the Hydro Mission: to contribute to a more viable society.

What´s in the future for Hydro EE?

Immediate development strategies? Extrusion Eurasia is at present building a new plant in Suzhou, just outside Shanghai in China. The plant will serve the local market in China, based on a customer base made up of Chinese companies and western companies established in China. We are already providing extrusions from local sources to some of our Scandinavian customers Asian operations.

That´s why Hydro EE can play a major role as our customer´s preferred supplier and development partner.

The Hydro culture is that of being a partner with our customers - not to see each relation as a one-off, but as an interaction in our mutual partnership. Only when we work in depth together can we become a better supplier and help our customers in solving their problems, be them of a technical nature or other business related matters.