Moreover, the plant in Neuss demonstrates that industrial production in Germany makes good economic sense when all the parameters are right", declares Peter Sebastian Krause, Work Director and Member of the Executive Board of KSPG AG.
Besides the Port of Neuss site, the company looked at an attractive location in nearby ME[micro]nchengladbach as well as the possibility of expanding the Nettetal plant.
The company added that Dr Neuss will succeed Thomas Korlin, who has been elected as director of Business Development and Product Marketing in the EMEA region.
According to the company, Dr Neuss will report to its general manager and chief operating officer, Bernard Rzepka, and Korlin will report to Rzepka and Paul Boulier, vice president and chief marketing officer.
The Neuss smelter is at the very high end of the cost curve, mainly due to the German power cost level," said Hilde Merete Aasheim, executive vice president of Norsk Hydro's business area Aluminium Metal.
The Neuss smelter has an annual capacity of 230,000 tonnes, but has already reduced production by 30,000 tonnes per year.
For the fluid-bubble transfer process,
Neuss left an air gap between the hardsegment and soft-segment melts, so as to leave room for material that is displaced when water is injected.
"This is an important move in Hydro's efforts to continue viable operations at
Neuss," said Peik Norenberg, CFO of Norsk Hydro's business area Aluminium Metal.