“I am optimistic about the long-term prospects for aluminium and Hydro as the world moves towards the low-carbon, circular economy” ~ Hilde Merete Aasheim, President and CEO of Norsk Hydro.

After serving 11 years as executive vice president and head of Hydro’s Primary Metal business area, Hilde Merete Aasheim assumed her new position in the company as President and CEO on May 8, 2019, with the intention of accelerating the operational excellence by ensuring stricter financial discipline and improved earnings from rolled products.

Today, we, the team of AlCircle, are immensely proud to have got a chance to conduct a brief interview with Ms. Aasheim who also happened to be on the board of International Aluminium Institute and Qatar Aluminium Ltd. Starting from her short-term goals to long-term strategies, Aasheim has shared with us her key area of focus to take one of the world’s largest aluminium companies to the next level where it could achieve the benchmark of a sustainable footprint through the value chain and life-cycle of aluminium. To get more insight into our conversation, read the interview.

Q: You have assumed responsibility as Hydro’s new President and CEO at a very crucial stage. What are your short-term goals for the company to survive this crisis?

A: My main focus is to lift profitability and drive sustainability. I am optimistic about the long-term prospects for aluminium and Hydro as the world moves towards the low-carbon, circular economy. But we must acknowledge the challenges that must be addressed to strengthen our performance and cash generation. We will therefore increase our ambitions on operational excellence and ensure stricter financial discipline going forward, and we will explore all options to improve earnings from Rolled Products for the future.

Q: Hydro’s production volumes in Q1 2019 dropped YoY due to Alunorte curtailment and the recent cyber-attack that disrupted production. What is your outlook for the company for the full year 2019?

A: Following the cyber-attack in March the production volumes in Extruded Solutions, which were hit the hardest, fell. Since then, it has gradually been lifted and production volumes are now at normal levels. The embargo on Alunorte means the alumina production is cut by 50 percent, also impacting the Paragominas bauxite mine and the Albras primary plant in Brazil. Until the embargo is lifted, we will not see any change here. When the embargo is lifted, we expect to start ramping up production at Alunorte.

Q: What is Hydro’s long-term prospect for the aluminium industry and how far the company plans to achieve its goals in 2019?

A: Hydro will increase its efforts within advanced, low-carbon aluminium products and solutions, based on a more sustainable footprint through the value chain and life-cycle of aluminium. Customers are increasingly seeking advanced solutions with the lowest-possible impact, from building and construction to automotive, packaging and electronics. This enables us to commercialize our best-in-class footprint and leading positions within process technology and product innovation.

Hydro is already the only aluminium company able to provide the global building and construction sector with solutions containing at least 75 percent post-consumer scrap through its certified 75R alloy, and also offers low-carbon primary aluminium with a maximum CO2-footprint of 4 kilos per kilo aluminium.

Q: Which will be Hydro’s focus area in 2019 for earning improvement?

A: We are introducing several measures to support this business agenda, including renewing the company’s management board, restructuring and strategic review of the Rolled Products business area. We are ensuring stricter capital discipline and capital allocation, as well as revitalizing on-going improvement programs and identifying new improvement ambitions in all business areas and staffs. A reinforced improvement agenda for the company will be developed and presented during the third quarter.

Q: Brief us about Hydro’s value-added strategies for 2019.

A: We are continuing our value-add strategy. From our primary operations, we are continuing our focus on making metal products to order for our customers. We are developing alloys and products to meet customer requirements and are working together with customers to make products that can simplify their production processes, while also enhancing the properties of the products.

Downstream, two main markets are the automotive industry and the building systems sector. Our solutions are in demand, where we often are delivering our products to the most complex projects. This includes both extruded products and rolled products.

Q: A Brazilian federal court has lifted one of two production embargoes on Alunorte alumina refinery under the civil lawsuit recently. Do you think the refinery will be back to full production by the third quarter of 2019?

A: The Federal Court in Belém, Brazil, lifted the production embargo on Alunorte under the civil lawsuit on Wednesday, May 15. Alunorte is still subject to a production embargo imposed by the same court in a parallel criminal lawsuit, but Alunorte is expecting an extension of the civil decision to the criminal case shortly. No decision has been taken on the embargos on the new bauxite residue disposal area (DRS2).

Q: What is your projection for the global aluminium industry in 2019?

A: We expect a global balance for primary aluminium being in deficit by 1-1.5 million tonnes for 2019. We see the deficit being balanced between Chine and the world outside China. In China, we have also seen slower development in supply, as more smelters has curtailed capacity, and our growth expectations for the year have been adjusted down.

The continued macro uncertainty continues, as the trade tariffs are changing and the discussions between the US and China are continuing.