Norsk Hydro: Qatalum Plant To Start Commissioning In 4Q

LONDON, Apr 21, 2009 (Dow Jones Commodities News via Comtex) -- Norwegian aluminum company Norsk Hydro ASA (NHY.OS) said Tuesday it will start commissioning the Qatalum aluminum smelter in Qatar during the fourth quarter ready to start up around the new year. "The start up will come at the end of this year and then we will ramp up production after that," said Hydro spokesman Halvor Molland. He said that to produce first metal, there will a process of commissioning which will probably be a few months. Cargoes of aluminum from the $5.6 billion smelter, which will have an annual capacity of 585,000 metric tons of primary aluminum by the second half of 2010, will be shipped from Qatalum to markets in Europe and the Far East. Hydro has been forced to curtail its primary aluminum production by around 25% to help balance an oversupplied market and support falls in aluminum prices. Molland said the company "is always reviewing output," when asked whether it was considering more production cuts. "There's nothing new to report right now," he added. Qatalum is a joint project between Hydro and Qatar Petroleum.