Jan 31 2005
Hydro is to upgrade its magnesium plant in Becancour, Canada. The program will see a production increase of 7,000 tons to 58,000 tons of cast primary metal per year.
Work to expand the plant will start immediately and will take one and a half years to complete. The program will consist principally of improvements to dehydration and the addition of four electrolytic cells.
“The investment in Becancour is the latest step Hydro is taking to strengthen its leading market position in the magnesium industry. It shows that we remain committed to serving customers, and end users, on a global basis,” says Serge Huppe, head of Hydro Magnesium.
In 2004, Hydro Magnesium doubled capacity at its foundry in Bottrop, Germany. The company also operates casthouses in Porsgrunn, Norway, and Xi’an, China. The Becancour plant was built in the late 1980s.
Hydro Magnesium expects the high pressure die casting segment to become the single largest market for magnesium globally in 2005, exceeding demand for pure metal in aluminium alloying for the first time. Combined, demand for magnesium automotive and non-automotive die casting applications is expected to grow nine percent annually until the end of the decade.
- Hydro Magnesium is part of Hydro Aluminium. With more than 50 years of experience, Hydro Magnesium is recognized as the world's leading global supplier of magnesium, with a total foundry capacity in excess of 100,000 tons per year.
- Hydro is a Fortune 500 energy and aluminium supplier founded in 1905, with 36,000 employees in nearly 40 countries. We are a leading offshore producer of oil and gas, the world's third-largest integrated aluminium supplier and a pioneer in renewable energy and energy-efficient solutions. As we look forward to our next 100 years, we celebrate a century of creating value by strengthening the viability of the customers and communities we serve.
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