"You have saved this location from a difficult situation and secured employment for the long term despite fierce competition. And all this in the shadow of an industrial drama next door about the primary aluminium plant in our city, that – also due to help from Hydro – came to a good end. I am delighted to see this beautiful development could be attained for both plants here in Hamburg.“

Uldall, head of the State Authority for Economy and Labor, took a look at the construction of a large new recycling furnace. Starting this fall, the Hydro plant will recycle used aluminium to cover its metal supply more flexibly while using less energy. So far, 60,000 tonnes of scrap have been recovered for the rolling mill, saving significant extra costs and emissions from transport.

"It was my pleasure to inaugurate the rolling mill in 2003 after its thorough revamp for 70 million Euro. Now I am even more pleased to see Hydro also clearly bringing forward the casthouse that you acquired from HAW, investing another 12 million Euro,“ said Uldall.

At the end of 2005, the aluminium companies Alcoa, Amag and Hydro had mothballed their joint-venture smelter HAW in Hamburg due to a steep increase in power prices, causing enormous protests. Yet 11 later, in the light of a bullish LME outllook for primary aluminium, the owner agreed to hand over the facilities to Trimet for a restart.

"Today, we buy all liquid metal produced by Trimet next door, also maintaining close cooperation with our neighbor,“ said Axel Brand, plant manager of Hydro´s Hamburg plant.

Oliver Bell, head of Rolled Products in Hydro, expressed thanks to the employees for their contribution to the necessary savings: "The solution to the serious problems at our plant in Hamburg shows that if the workforce, union and company cooperate closely, we really can achieve a viable perspective, especially in Germany.“