Hydro to add melt shop in Hungary

Norway-based Norsk Hydro ASA hosted a groundbreaking ceremony in early September for the construction of its new aluminum recycling melt shop in Szekesfehervar, Hungary.

The new facility, to be managed by the firm’s Hydro Extrusions business unit, will have an annual capacity of 90,000 metric tons and is expected to start production in early 2024. The total investment is expected to be around $90 million.

The aluminum plant will be built alongside Hydro’s aluminum extrusion plant in Szekesfehervar and produce what Hydro calls “advanced alloys for extrusions used in the premium automotive segment.”

Hydro says, “Using only 5 percent of the energy originally needed to produce the metal, the plant will also provide customers with the opportunity to close the loop by taking back both production scrap and post-consumer scrap, which is recycled into new products.”

Hydro President and CEO Hilde Merete Aasheim says, “Recycled aluminum is becoming more and more important within the extrusion industry. This new facility is an important investment for a greener future and will strengthen Hydro’s position as a leading supplier of high-quality, low-carbon aluminum to a market where demand for greener aluminum is accelerating.”

The Hungarian extrusion plant mainly serves automotive customers, and the ability to offer “closed loops” is helping carmakers and customers from other industries to reduce the carbon footprint of their products, Hydro says.

With the melt shop located next to the extrusion plant, one transportation leg is removed, the supply chain is optimized, and waste is limited to a minimum, the firm adds. The recycled-content aluminum then soon goes back into the production of advanced car components.

“As automotive customers put more emphasis on greener solutions, we are taking this breakthrough step in Hungary to grow the market with advanced products and drive sustainability,” says Paul Warton, executive vice president with Hydro Extrusions. “We are increasing our recycling capacity in Central and Eastern Europe, ensuring reliable billet supply to our customers and creating possibilities of closing the loop by taking back and recycling production scrap and postconsumer scrap.”

Frank Iepema, managing director of Hydro Aluminium Extrusion, says, “Our customers and their end customers want products that demand less energy to produce, and that contain more recycled metal. By taking this next step in Hungary, with a state-of-the art remelt plant using the best technology available, we will be able to produce recycled aluminum locally: Hydro Restore.”

Hydro Restore is an aluminum product line made from a combination of recycled preconsumer scrap, recycled postconsumer scrap and primary aluminum.

Globally, Hydro Extrusions has around 100 production sites in 40 countries, including a growing presence in the United States, and employs some 21,000 people.