Norsk Hydro, the Norwegian oil and energy, light metals and plant nutrition group, has today announced that it will build its second state of the art aluminum recycling plant in the United States. The new aluminum remelt plant in Commerce, Texas will have a capacity of 90,000 metric tons of primary quality aluminum from scrap and will utilize the same state of the art technology as Hydro's first US remelt plant in Henderson, Kentucky.
Hydro will invest USD 37 million in the new remelt plant in Commerce, which will be in operation in November 2002. Construction will start this fall. Hydro chose to build the plant in Commerce in order to better serve the demand of the Southwestern aluminum market.
Customers will be from the transportation and building and construction sectors.
Hydro's division, Hydro Aluminum Metal Products is the largest global supplier of billet. Recycling of aluminum is highly energy efficient, producing primary quality aluminum billet from scrap using only 5 per cent of the energy consumed in typical primary aluminum production.
This concept has been proven by Hydro's network of remelt plants in Europe. Four plants are currently producing 250,000 metric tons of billet annually. A fifth remelt plant with an annual capacity of 60,000 metric tons will start operations in Spain late this year. The Henderson recycling plant, which officially opened in May of this year with an annual capacity of 90,000 metric tons, marked the first equity investment in primary metal production by Hydro for an aluminum production facility in North America. The Commerce, Texas plant marks the second. Through the acquisition of Wells Aluminum Hydro also got access to its remelt facility in Monett, Missouri, making Hydro's current remelting capacity in the United States over 175,000 metric tons annually. Hydro also operates Pianmeca, a company in Venezuela, supplying aluminum cast house products to the US market.
"When we announced the first remelt plant in Henderson, it was part of a commitment we made to expand our remelter capacity in the United States in order to increase the supply of primary quality billet in a market that is not producing enough aluminum to meet expected demand," commented Jim Walters, President, Hydro Aluminum Metal Products, N.A. "Based on the success of the product quality from the Henderson plant, and the feedback we have gotten from our customers, we are confident that this new remelt plant in Commerce, Texas will achieve the same level of acceptance. We are committed to expanding our sources of supply to our customers in the U.S."
"Eight years ago, Hydro's effort to improve the operational and technical quality of recycling
became a core business. Now, Hydro is a leader in this remelt technology," commented Lars Narvestad, Senior Vice President of Hydro Aluminum Metal Products-NA. "As a result of this technology we have increased our aluminum remelting 10-fold. Today, one out of threeWRQV of aluminum Hydro sells has been remelted. "
The closing on the property in Commerce and construction will not commence until final
negotiations are completed with the gas and electric utilities.
Since 1986, Norsk Hydro has been supplying aluminum to customers in the United States. In Louisville, Kentucky, Hydro Aluminum Metal Products - North America handles sales from all internal and external sources. The Louisville office also operates Hydro's extensive trading activities in the United States.
Hydro Aluminum Metal Products is the leading supplier of billet worldwide and a leading supplier of aluminum cast house products in Europe. Norsk Hydro's global aluminum activities extend to the entire material chain of aluminum, including the mining and refining of bauxite into alumina, the production of primary aluminum, semi-fabrication and fabrication of aluminum products and remelting and recycling.