High-value aluminium end products from extruded sections

During the past 5-10 years, the aluminum industry, and the extrusion industry particularly, has gone from being operated locally to a global industry with increasing competition from other materials, and increasing demands on quality and price. At the sam e time, low cost countries in the Far East are able to compete in Europe with local suppliers. This means that within a few years, standard products in aluminum will be produced in these low-cost countries. If Hydro as an aluminum company shall remain pre sent in Norway and in Europe, the industry must develop process technology that enables product capabilities that will outperform standard solutions and set new standards. The biggest challenge within the extrusion market today, and in the future, is ge ometrical- and mechanical tolerances. The main focus of this project is to achieve material quality in terms of shape and mechanical properties that meet current and future down stream challenges from added value activities and end users of aluminium-bas ed products at a competitive cost. The target of the project is to reduce tolerances on shape and mechanical properties by a factor of 2. If these targets are reached, the potential for increased profit in Norway, for Hydro and for small and medium size e nterprises (SME) buying aluminium sections, a conservative estimate is 150 - 200 mill NOK a year. For Hydro in general, the potential for increased profit will be ~ 960 mill NOK a year.