Alunorte alumina refinery, Brazil
The Norsk Hydro Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil.
The federal court in Belém, Brazil has lifted the production embargo on the Alunorte alumina refinery, thus allowing the Norwegian aluminium manufacturer, Norsk Hydro, to resume full production after a long legal dispute.
The Alunorte plant, the largest alumina refinery in the world, has been running for more than a year at half its 6.3 million tonne capacity following allegations that waste material had spilled after heavy rains. Norsk Hydro has repeatedly denied the charges.
The court's decision will be seen as a boost for Hydro's new CEO Hilde Merete Aasheim. She has promised to take a "back to basics" approach to win back the confidence of investors.
“I am pleased and encouraged to see the great efforts by our people at Alunorte, Albras and Paragominas, in cooperation with local communities and authorities. Resuming production at Alunorte is an important step towards normal production at our strategically important operations in Para and a foundation for our agenda to strengthen the robustness and profitability across the value chain,” said Ms Aasheim.
Alumina is the main raw material used in the production of aluminium. The compound metal is becoming more popular with car manufacturing due to its light weight helping increase fuel efficiency.
The method by which alumina is extracted from its raw material, bauxite, is known as the Bayer process, which creates a toxic mix of byproducts known as 'red mud'. Typically, red mud is stored in dams or containment pools, but following two dam bursts in Brazil in recent years, the method is under increased scrutiny.
A tonne of alumina creates, roughly, around one and a half tonnes of red mud. Norsk Hydro has pointed out that it still does not have approval for a new containment pool at Alunorte, leaving its "residue deposit area" with between 8 to 18 months capacity.
Nonetheless, the company has said that it should be at 75-85% full capacity within two months.
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