ALRO Slatina continues investment in aluminium

The Slatina-based plant was built 50 years ago and, all this time, has produced over 9.5 M tons of aluminium.

The highest production was recorded in 2008 - 265,000 tons of primary aluminium. The crisis caused a notable decrease of production, but, in the last 2-3 years, the company has managed to stabilise its production at a rate of almost 200,000 tons.

According to Gheorghe Dobra, CEO of the company, Alro will continue the modernisation of operations, with a budget of USD 59 M for 2015. The effort is aimed at growing the cost-effectiveness of the unit and its recycling capacities, while also expanding the range of products. In the last ten years, as a result of investment worth over USD 500 M, of which 100 M in environment protection features, the company ahs upgraded its equipment trying to remain competitive on international markets as well as in order to fully comply with existing environment protection regulations.

In 2005, Alro bought Alum Tulcea, in 2006 it merged with Alprom Slatina and then purchased a bauxite mine in Sierra Leone, making it a vertically-integrated group, Dobra stresses. The only thing missing from the equation is the energy production part, as energy now accounts for 35% of the cost per ton of aluminium. As a matter of fact, the company had major issues with energy in the last four years because of the cost of renewable energy and co-generation fee, paying a total of 160 M euro. ‘In the last four years we have been through a very difficult time because of the eco-fees, we have paid EUR 160 M. Now, after the reduction of the green certificate quota, we are on level playing field with our competitors in Europe’, Dobra also said during a meeting marking 50 years of Alro.