Federal Court lifts embargo on Alunorte's DRS2 under the civil lawsuit on September 20

Norsk Hydro announces with a press release that The Federal Court in Belém, Brazil lifted the embargo on Alunorte's new bauxite residue disposal (DRS2) under the civil lawsuit on September 20.  It is to be noted that Alunorte is still subjected to another embargo on DRS2 under a criminal lawsuit. Alunorte is expecting an extension of the civil decision to the criminal case.

Till the criminal case is lifted on DRS2, Alunorte will continue utilizing the old bauxite residue disposal area (DRS1).  The embargo in the civil case was lifted after Ministério Público and Alunorte had submitted a joint petition to the federal court on August 30 for lifting the ban.

“This is an important step towards resuming installation and commissioning activities of the solid residue deposit DRS2. It is a state-of-the-art deposit system, the only sustainable and long-term solution for Alunorte’s operations. Alunorte is the foundation of the aluminium value chain in Para, and I appreciate the support we have received from our employees and local stakeholders”, says John Thuestad, Executive Vice President of the Bauxite & Alumina business in Hydro.

Alunorte refinery was permitted to ramp up its production from 50% to normal levels after the Federal Court had lifted the production embargo on May 20, 2019. The refinery is working strictly on the commitments it agreed upon in the TAC (technical agreement) signed in September 2018 by Ministério Público, SEMAS, Alunorte and Hydro.

Underlying EBIT for bauxite and alumina for Hydro in Q2 2019 stood higher YoY at NOK 415 million , primarily buoyed by increased production following the lifting of the embargo on May 20.

“Alunorte reached 80-85 per cent capacity utilization in June, within the targeted 75-85 per cent capacity utilization for the state-of-art press filter technology,” said Hilde Merete Aasheim, President and CEO of Norsk Hydro.