Hydro's Neuss aluminum smelter produces 230,000 tons of new aluminum a year, a 13 percent cut means 30,000 tons less. The plant has 650 permanent employees.

“The hut in Neuss is clearly at the top of the cost curve, above all because electricity is so expensive in Germany, one of the most expensive in the world. The planned production cut in Neuss is a direct consequence of the weak market situation and the global downturn in metal demand, ”says Hilde Merete Aasheim, Hydro board member for the Aluminum Metal business area.

Including the previously announced final closure of the old Søderberg furnaces in Karmøy and the cut in production at Søral in Norway, Hydro has now decided to reduce its aluminum production by around 170,000 tons per year. This corresponds to 10 percent of Hydro's total primary production.

Almost 40 percent of these shutdowns have already taken place and will be completed by the end of March.

At the Neuss plant, electrolysis furnaces with an annual output of 30,000 tons will be mothballed until further notice. The shutdown project starts immediately and is expected to end in January. After the partial decommissioning, the capacity of the smelter is still 200,000 tons of aluminum per year.

"In view of the high electricity costs in Germany and the very weak aluminum market, we will continue to weigh our remaining generation capacity in Neuss and at all of our other smelters worldwide," says Aasheim. & nbsp;

Contact person:

Michael_Peter.Steffen@hydro.com
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