Norsk Hydro says no decision on Australia plant

Norwegian aluminium group Norsk Hydro said on Wednesday it had not made any decision on whether to expand an Australian smelter or abandon the idea, which it said was still at a very early stage. Australia's ABC News reported earlier on Wednesday that Norsk Hydro's "proposed $4 billion upgrade is in serious doubt," due to costs of complying with regulations on emissions trading and new renewable energy targets. The ABC report said the expansion was "at real risk of being cancelled." But a Norsk Hydro spokesman said it was premature to talk of cancelling a project because the company had not made any decision to invest in expanding its 170,000-tonnes-per-year Kurri Kurri smelter in Australia's Hunter Valley. The company is cutting its primary aluminium output by 23 percent, or 400,000 tonnes, by the end of the second quarter to bring output into line with weak demand for metal. "We have previously said that we are looking into a brownfield expansion at Kurri Kurri, as we are in many places around the world," Hydro's spokesman Erik Brynhildsbakken said. "But this is at a very early stage and not at all close to a decision," Brynhildsbakken said, adding that the $4 billion figure mentioned by ABC also was only hypothetical. "We don't have any firm idea of what a possible expansion would cost since we haven't decided whether or how to do it," he said. Many uncertainties remain, including Australia's plans for an emissions trading scheme and targets for renewable energy. Aluminium production is highly energy-intensive, he said. source：www.basemetals.com