Alro has budgeted an investment plan of over USD 53 M for this year

Alro, the largest aluminium producer in Continental Europe (excluding Russia and Scandinavia), announced an investment program of over USD 53 million for 2016, focused on increasing energy and equipment efficiency and on expanding portfolio, increasing competitiveness and product quality.

“Alro has a constant strategy for reducing energy consumption, in order to preserve the operational efficiency on a highly competitive international market,” Gheorghe Dobra, General Manager of Alro said in a press release on Monday sent to Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).

“The investments we have made, both in equipment and in research and development have enabled us to achieve one of the highest levels of energy efficiency in the aluminium industry. Under these circumstances, the solution to further reduce energy consumption consisted in investing in a facility for recycling of aluminium scrap, whose capacity we plan to expand this year.”

The investment program for 2016 includes the increase of scrap processing capacity of Eco Cast House, such as to reach a capacity of 90,000 tons per year. In addition, the company invests in increasing the energy efficiency of the existing processes. The measures, part of Alro’s energy efficiency plan, were agreed with the accredited energy efficiency auditor and notified to the competent authorities.

Thus, Alro will commission a new line of aluminium scrap processing, with a capacity of 60,000 tons per year. The company has built a new station, Eco Cast House, to provide some of the liquid aluminium from alternative sources, partially replacing the aluminium produced by electrolysis, process that requires a significant consumption of electricity.

Thanks to the investments made over the last 10 years, Alro has reached 99 percent of the maximum possible efficiency of the electrolysis sector. This result is presented in the study “Energy Efficiency and Greenhouse Effect Emissions: Possible Scenarios for the

Aluminium Industry,” published last year by the Joint Research Center, at the request of the European Commission. The study emphasizes that Alro has implemented three out of four possible phases for optimizing the electrolysis process and was ranked fourth among 18 plants in Europe.

In addition to the energy efficiency investment, in 2016 Alro continues to invest in expanding the client portfolio by increasing the production capacity of the Processed Aluminium Division (heat treated plates, cladded products), as well as ensuring the continuity and safety of the operations of the company.

In the first quarter of this year, Alro registered an adjusted net profit of RON 41 million, compared to RON 23 million in the similar period of 2015.