Hydro Sets Up to Market Aluminium Products in the Middle East, Gulf States and Southern Africa

Hydro announced that it is setting up a regional office in Doha, Qatar, for marketing Hydro's metal products in the Middle East, the Gulf States and Southern Africa. The office will be a part of Hydro's business area Metal Markets and its Asian Regional Organization, based in Singapore.

In setting up the operations, Hydro notes that there are positive demands for aluminum metal products in Asia and the rest of the world continues, which is creating interesting markets for Qatalum.

Qatalum will produce and market mainly value-added casthouse products extrusion ingots and foundry alloys, in the Middle East and the Gulf States, Asia, Southern Europe and in the United States. The markets for these products are driven by the construction markets, general manufacturing output and automotive production.

The positive development of demand for metal products such as extrusion ingot, sheet ingot, foundry alloys and wire rod in the second half of 2009 has continued into 2010. The demand for casthouse products in Asia is strong and growing, while the consumption in both Europe and North America remains below the levels experienced in 2007 and 2008 and there are no indications of a fast recovery to pre-crisis consumption levels.

This year, Qatalum production is estimated to be more than 300,000 metric tons, and 2011 will be the first year of full production. The Qatalum casthouse is designed to have a capacity to produce 625,000 metric tons, slightly more than the Qatalum production of primary aluminum of 585,000 metric tons. The balance will be made up of remelting of aluminum process scrap and other cold metal.

Hydro's global market organization will bring all the products from Qatalum to the markets.

Hydro supplied the market with 2.4 million metric tons of casthouse products in 2009. The company is a large producer of aluminum casthouse products in Europe, with an established market position in Asia and the U.S. based on metal from its primary aluminum plants in Australia and remelting facilities.

Qatalum will be an important source of quality products that will allow Hydro to increase its sales and market shares in Asia. In the United States, Hydro will offer metal products from primary aluminum, in addition to the products from the company’s U.S. remelters.

As a part of the global Hydro marketing network, customers of the Qatalum metal will have access to the extended services offered. These include technical and commercial services as well as scrap conversion in Hydro's dedicated remelt facilities located strategically in key metal markets.

Hydro is also stepping up its activities in recycling of other qualities of aluminum scrap. Aluminium can be recycled requiring only 5 percent of the energy needed to originally produce primary aluminum.