Nov 9 2006
Hydro will invest EUR 12 million in its aluminium casthouse and rolling mill in Hamburg, Germany. And a new agreement means that employees are making a significant contribution to securing a viable future for the plant and the more than 600 jobs there.
The investment, as approved by the Corporate Management Board, is mainly dedicated to building a new twin-chamber furnace.
“This is a good day for the aluminium plant in Hamburg-Finkenwerder! With the new furnace, we can recycle our own scrap, as well as additional scrap, in-house. This will reduce our metal costs, make the plant more competitive and also our operations more efficient in terms of process ecology,” says Hans-Joachim Kock, who is head of Hydro’s Rolled Products business sector.
The new equipment completes an improved set-up for the Hamburg plant, which started operating in 1973, became part of Hydro in 2002, and was thoroughly modernized for more than EUR 50 million by June 2003.
A major contribution to lower costs comes from the workforce. Triggered by the new investment, a respective agreement with the works council is now effective.
“Based on the excellent cooperation between employees and management, all the main pieces are now in place to make the Hamburg plant profitable for a viable future,“ adds Oliver Bell, head of Hydro’s Strip business unit.
The plant provides aluminium strip mainly for automotive, heat exchanger and general engineering applications for end-user and stockholder markets.