“The American industrial value chains are essential for the green transition in the U.S., and Hydro has approximately 7,000 employees and 28 production sites for aluminum recycling and production of high-quality aluminum products in North America. With a complete aluminum value chain, from bauxite to aluminum products, we partner with customers who are in the forefront of the development, accelerating growth, value creation and sustainability,” says President and CEO, Eivind Kallevik, during the opening event in Washington, D.C.

Hydro is the largest producer of aluminum extrusion ingot in the U.S., with a production of over 2 billion pounds or 1 million metric tons. Hydro is also the largest aluminum extrusion company in the U.S., as well as in Europe, with sales to customers in sectors like automotive, buildings, general engineering, and consumer durables.  

“There is an overall growth in the American aluminum market, but specifically our extrusion plants are feeling the market demand particularly in emerging sectors such as EVs and renewable energy,” says Kallevik.

Based on the pull from the market for high-quality, low-carbon aluminum, Hydro has made significant investments over the last years and more will come.

Hydro is installing 15 new extrusion presses by 2030. The company recently completed a new extrusion ingot recycling plant in Cassopolis, Michigan and is planning additional recycling investments in the next few years. Overall, Hydro has invested USD 800 million in the U.S. over the last five years and is planning USD 800-1000 million in investments in the next five years.

“We see an increasing interest in our low-carbon offerings. With the move to electrification, the materials footprint of a car will soon be more important than the tailpipe emissions. An EV running on renewable energy only does half the job. The other half of the emissions are embedded in the materials it’s made of. If we want to create truly sustainable cars, we need to look at the materials sector as well. This is why Hydro is developing materials and producing them in a way that will contribute to customers meeting their sustainability targets,” says Kallevik.