Hydro to idle two Al extrusion plants

Norway-based integrated aluminum producer Norsk Hydro plans to close two of its US extrusion facilities by the end of the first quarter.

Hydro will close its Kalamazoo, Michigan, and Belton, South Carolina, locations after "a careful and extensive analysis of market capacity requirements and equipment utilization within Hydro's North American extrusion business," the company said.

The facilities are expected to be closed by 1 January 2020, with some limited operations carrying on into the first quarter.

The Belton and Kalamazoo plants provide extrusion, machining fabrication and finishing services. Neither are scrap consumers or have cast houses.

US spreads for 6063 extrusion scrap, consumed by companies such as Hydro, are around 25¢/lb under the midwest transaction price, or their weakest level since Argus began assessing them in 2010.

Extrusion billet premiums are also trading at similar lows, staying at 8-9¢/lb this week, unchanged from the prior week.

US extruders with cast houses are well supplied on scrap and avoiding going any longer on material because they are unsure about order books for 2020.