The financial crisis has led to substantial problems for the construction and automotive industries, which are among the metal industry’s most important markets. This has again triggered a dramatic decline in demand for aluminium products.

Aasheim states that the company is prepared for this situation to last for some time, though she also points out that Hydro’s solid financial position means that the company is well equipped to tackle the crisis.

“We can see that it may be difficult to maintain current total production volumes if markets do not show any signs of improvement. We are therefore continually assessing how to reduce production capacity in the most considerate way possible, both for the company and for our employees,” says Aasheim.

By way of adjustment to the difficult market, Hydro has already reduced all remelting of external metal in Norway, Europe and the United States to a minimum.

Hydro has previously made it known that the market situation has necessitated manpower reductions in all areas of the company’s downstream operations.