An important aluminum plant in Slovakia is closed before the energy crisis in Europe

The Slovalco plant, located in Slovakia, will end its primary aluminum production, as announced on Wednesday the Norwegian metallurgical company Norsk Hydro, majority owner of the installation. It is required that the closure will be completed by the end of September.

From Norsk Hydro they linked the decision with "adverse framework conditions and high electricity prices, which do not show signs of short -term improvement." Likewise, the head of the Board of Directors of Slovalco, Ola Saeter, explained that the plant, which currently operates at 60 % of its maximum capacity of 175,000 tons per year, would suffer "substantial" financial losses, if it continued to function beyond 2022.

Despite at the beginning of the processes to stop production, the plant could "resume operations in a later phase if market and frame conditions allow it," says the Norwegian company.

Apart from Slovalco, the production in Hydro Sunndal, another aluminum casting installation of the company located in Norway, will be affected by a strike declared by the employees of the plant. The unemployment will begin on August 22, Norsk Hydro communicated on Tuesday.

Bloomberg points out that the closure of the installation in Slovalco "adds to the growing indications of tension in the industrial economy" of the old continent before the rise in electricity prices. The agency points out that Europe has already lost about half of its ability to found zinc and aluminum last year, which was due, to a greater extent, to the decision of manufacturers to reduce production.
High energy consumption

The rise in energy prices aggravates the situation of these sectors, since the production of these metals is associated with high energy consumption. In fact, a ton of aluminum requires about 14 megawatts hour, sufficient quantity for the operation of a medium home in the United Kingdom for more than three years.

Meanwhile, the foundry of zinc, which needs about 4 megawatts per time per ton, is also under pressure before the drastic rise in prices recorded on Tuesday, after knowing the plans of the company Trafigura Group to suspend next month the production of the metal in its Dutch plant in Budel, one of the largest in Europe.

On the other hand, economic agents follow the development of energy problems in the Chinese province of Sichuan, considered as an important aluminum production node, where electricity rationing is applied to high temperatures.