Norwegian aluminum producer Norsk Hydro reported flat primary aluminum production in Q3 2020, while rolled and extruded product sales concurrently declined.
According to the company’s Q3 earnings report, it produced 1.55mn mt of primary aluminum during January-September of this year to rise by 4.4pc from 1.49mn mt last year. Alumina output rose by 32pc to 4mn mt in the same comparative period.
In the first nine months of 2020, rolled and extruded product sales declined by 19.6pc and 23.4pcto 646,000mt and 807,000mt, respectively, from a year earlier, while the average primary aluminum price realized fell by 12.3pc to $1,649/mt.
Q3 2020 Operations
Hydro produced 522,000mt of primary metal in the third quarter, identical to output from Q3 2019. However, alumina production decreased by 19pc to 1.07mn mt during the quarter, owing to a maintenance shutdown of the bauxite transport line at Alunorte in Brazil during July-September.
In the first nine months of the year, rolled and extruded product sales totaled 212,000mt and 278,000mt, down 13pc and 12pc, respectively, over the same quarter last year. Average realized aluminum price fell by 11pc to $1,596/mt in the quarter, over the same period last year.
The company has decided to restart production line B at its Husnes facility next month, which has been dormant since 2009, and is expected to increase annual production to its original 180,000mt capacity from 100,000mt currently.
In Q3 2020, the company’s revenue fell by 12pc to NOK33bn ($3.5bn) while it posted a net loss of NOK221mn, bettering its position by 84pc, compared with a net loss of NOK1.3bn in Q3 2019.
($1 = NOK9.23)