Hydro appoints two new unit presidents for aluminium extrusion units in Europe and North America

Norsk Hydro has announced the appointment of Erik Fossum and Jeff Lehman as unit president of aluminium extrusion units in Europe and North America. Extrusion Europe is the largest business unit in Hydro Extrusions, with 8,300 employees. Extrusion North America is the second largest unit, with 5,600 employees and revenues of EUR 5.4 billion last year.

Erik Fossum is succeeding Bruno D’hondt in his new position after serving several management roles in Hydro since 1995, including seven years as head of the company’s primary aluminium commercial team. He also led Hydro Extrusions’ Precision Tubing unit, which focuses on heat transfer applications for the automotive and HVAC industries.

Before being appointed as a unit president of Hydro Extrusions North America, Jeff Lehman has served Hydro Extrusions’ operations in Asia, based in Suzhou, China. He joined Hydro in 2012, before which he spent most of his career in Alcoa, Technoform and HA-International.

Paul Warton, executive vice president responsible for Hydro Extrusions, said: “North America and Europe are our largest markets in Hydro Extrusions and our focus is to continue creating value through close collaboration with our customers and to grow our market share. With Erik and Jeff in place, we are accelerating the execution on our 2030 growth strategy.”

Warton added, “The market situation is challenging right now, but the long-term outlook for aluminium and extrusions is still very positive. So we need to ensure that we can continue to future-proof our customers by delivering the best solutions with aluminium, with the right environmental footprint, and to attract and retain the best people, which is the basis for our success.”