The investment of U $ 120 million (about R $ 80 million) will guarantee the purchase and installation of the new extrusion press, the construction of the building and the installation of necessary auxiliary equipment. The Hydro plant located in Itu (SP) already has three presses, one dedicated to high precision components and tubes. The other two are used to meet the needs of customers in the civil construction, consumer goods, electrical industry, machinery and equipment and transportation markets.

“The new press will be the largest of the three that already operate at Hydro's extrusion plant in Brazil. The size of the press will allow the company to increase its product range and supply aluminum profiles with greater widths and lengths, mainly for the transport segment ”, according to Erivam Boff - Hydro's Extruded Products Commercial Director.

Completion of the investment, with the press already in operation, is expected by January 2013.

"We have great ambitions - as do our customers - and the new press will take us to another level," says Ivar Venås, who heads Hydro's extrusion activities in South America.

"We have a strong client base and a very good image in the market. This investment will make us even stronger in both aspects."

According to Venås, there is "ample scope" to increase the use of extruded aluminum profiles in Brazil, where annual per capita consumption is less than half that practiced in the United States.

Aligned with strategy

The investment is also in line with Hydro's aluminum verticalization strategy, says Executive Vice President Hans-Joachim Kock, responsible for the company's worldwide extrusion operations.

"We are emphasizing further development in the emerging markets of South America and Asia," says Kock, pointing out that the company recently approved the investment in two new presses at the Hydro plant located in China.

The Brazilian factory, known as Hydro Alumínio Acro, was acquired in 1997. The company has approximately 330 employees working in the production of extruded products. Considering the professionals in the remelting activity and in the operation of precision tubes, located in the same industrial unit, Hydro in Itu has 477 employees.