Norsk Hydro: Federal court lifts remaining production embargo at Alunorte
May 20 2019 - 11:48AM
The federal court in Belem, Brazil, lifted the production
embargo on the Alunorte alumina refinery under the criminal lawsuit
on Monday, May 20, allowing Alunorte to ramp up towards normal
production after running at half capacity for more than a year. No
decision has been taken on the embargos on the new bauxite residue
disposal area (DRS2).
Production at Hydro’s Paragominas bauxite mine will be increased
in line with the ramp-up speed at Alunorte. A decision to also
increase production at Hydro’s part-owned Albras primary aluminium
plant is expected shortly.
“I am pleased and encouraged to see the great efforts by our
people at Alunorte, Albras and Paragominas, in cooperation with
local communities and authorities. Resuming production at Alunorte
is an important step towards normal production at our strategically
important operations in Para and a foundation for our agenda to
strengthen the robustness and profitability across the value
chain,” says President and CEO Hilde Merete Aasheim.
The decision by the federal court to lift the production embargo
under the criminal lawsuit came after a decision on Wednesday, May
15, to lift the production embargo under the civil lawsuit.
“This decision is very important to our employees, local
communities, contractors and customers. It is the final
confirmation that Alunorte can operate safely and means we will
restart the full aluminium value chain, which is positive both for
us and the state of Pará. We will focus on ramping up in a safe
manner, following several months of disrupted operations, as well
as continue working to also lift the embargos on the new,
state-of-art bauxite residue deposit area,” says John Thuestad, EVP
of the Bauxite & Alumina business area.
Alunorte, with an annual production capacity of 6.3 million
tonnes, is expected to reach 75-85% percent utilization within two
months. An additional press filter is expected to be operational in
Q3 2019, further increasing the capacity.
As the federal court’s embargo preventing Alunorte from using
its new DRS2 bauxite residue deposit area remains in force,
Alunorte continues to utilize the DRS1 depository based on
state-of-the-art press filter technology.
Investor contact Stian Hasle +47 97736022
Stian.Hasle@hydro.com
Press contact Bjørn Skaar +47 48171141 Bjorn.Skaar@hydro.com
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements
pursuant to Section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act
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