Hydro (Oslo, Norway) will upgrade its aluminum casthouse in Kurri Kurri, Australia, to meet strong growth in the Asia Pacific market.
Hydro (Oslo, Norway; www.hydro.com) will upgrade its aluminum casthouse in Kurri Kurri, Australia, to meet strong growth in the Asia Pacific market. The investment will enable the Hydro unit to supply up to 88,000 metric tons of foundry alloys and increase production of extrusion ingots up to 110,000 metric tons per year. As a main part of the project, Hydro will upgrade a casting center in Kurri Kurri to a primary foundry alloys unit, enabling a conversion from today's production of standard T-bars. Concentration on the production of two product lines for primary foundry alloys and extrusion ingots will allow for significant productivity gains. The upgrade, valued at 22.8 million Australian dollars (NOK 127.3 million), will be completed by the third quarter of 2006.