Portugal’s mining strategy may favour copper over lithium
Portugal already has the largest copper mine in the European Union, operated by Lundin Mining.
Norsk Hydro ASA said it will book a 5.9 billion-krone ($571 million) impairment against several mining and refining assets, citing weak alumina and bauxite markets and uncertainty over power prices in Australia.
The bulk of the writedowns relate to its Alunorte alumina refinery and Paragominas bauxite mine in Brazil, hurt by shrinking margins and higher fixed costs, the Oslo-based company said Thursday.
The outlook for alumina has deteriorated this year as rising production and exports from refiners in China have put pressure on plants elsewhere. Increasingly, analysts say refinery closures in Western markets will be needed to rebalance supply and demand.
Hydro completed the sale of a 30% stake in Alunorte to Glencore Plc earlier this month in a deal designed to reduce its in-house alumina production to levels that more closely match the needs of its aluminum smelters.
“In the short and medium term, we see challenging alumina markets,” chief executive officer Hilde Merete Aasheim said in a statement. “Longer term, we expect a higher share of greener earnings” in the bauxite and alumina business as the company cuts its emissions.
Hydro will also take a 600 million-krone charge against its Tomago aluminum plant in Australia amid “insecurity” over future power price agreements.
The company will book the impairments in fourth-quarter results, due to be published in February.
(By Mark Burton and Stephen Treloar)
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