The opening ceremony on September 14 marked the end of a 14 month construction process and the introduction of Hydro’s innovative HyForge forge stock segment at the Rackwitz plant. The technology allows for serving customers with smaller diameter aluminium billets with a superior surface quality that can be forged directly into high quality automotive components and other products, skipping further process steps such as extrusion or homogenization. Light weighting with aluminium is one of the most effective ways to improve the energy efficiency of vehicles without compromising safety.
“With HyForge, Hydro is literally forging the future of automotive, responding to the industry’s increasing demand for low-carbon, lightweight aluminium components. The expansion enables us to further develop our strategic partnership with automotive customers, while meeting both their high quality standards and increasing focus on sustainability,” says Eivind Kallevik, Executive Vice President for Hydro Aluminium Metal.
Contributing to Germany’s green transition
The Rackwitz expansion is an important step towards fulfilling Hydro’s ambitions within the fast developing area of recycling and doubling the use of post-consumer aluminium scrap by 2025. It is also delivering on the ambition to recycle more locally sourced scrap to ensure market leading sustainability performance.
“Our plant in Rackwitz is ideally located to serve the region’s automotive industry hub as more customers pursue their aim to decarbonize. It also provides easy access to sources of post-consumer aluminium scrap, giving significant customer value, and contributing to the circular economy and Germany’s green transition,” says Thomas Stürzebecher, Managing Director at Hydro Aluminium Gießerei Rackwitz GmbH.
Germany alone accounts for one third of the total European aluminium consumption. It is a large market for Hydro consisting of customers with ambitious climate targets that are clearly reflected in their expectations from suppliers like Hydro.
Decarbonizing industries
Hydro has been working to decarbonize its operations since the 1990s. The company has committed to a 30 percent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, and aims to achieve net-zero by 2050, convinced that “nothing” is possible.
Recycling of post-consumer scrap such as beverage cans, window frames, car parts and other items that have lived a past life, is one of the pathways in Hydro’s roadmap to cut emissions and the fastest way to deliver zero-carbon aluminium. The Rackwitz expansion is one of several investments in best-in-class recycling technology to serve growing demand and regulatory push for low-carbon aluminium.
The HyForge line has a capacity of 25,000 tonnes per year, which comes in addition to the current annual production of 95,000 tonnes of extrusion ingot. The expansion has generated 20 new jobs, bringing the number of employees at the plant up to 90.
HyForge™ is aluminium cast forge stock with a smaller diameter than traditional billets used for extrusion and with a superior surface quality. It can be forged directly into high quality automotive components, like wheel suspension parts, without adding any further process steps such as extrusion or homogenization. HyForge is delivered with a certified low-carbon footprint according to the Hydro REDUXA 4.0 certificate. Hydro REDUXA 4.0 sets a new standard for carbon footprint in production of aluminium.
The casthouse in Rackwitz, founded in 1925, is located in Saxonia, in the Eastern part of Germany, 15 kilometers north of Leipzig. The plant has decades of experience in the recycling of aluminium and handles around 85,000 tonnes of scrap per year, including 20,000 tonness of post-consumer scrap. Following the expansion, the casthouse has a capacity of 95,000 tonnes of extrusion ingot and 25,000 of HyForge forge stock per year.
Recycled aluminium is produced using only 5 percent of the energy required for primary aluminium production, without compromising quality. The use of recycled scrap means that Hydro Rackwitz is able to offer high quality aluminium products with a very low CO2 footprint. The products from the new HyForge line will have a certified CO2 footprint of less than a quarter of the worldwide industry average for aluminium production.
Hydro Aluminium Gießerei Rackwitz is located next to Hydro Extrusions Rackwitz. The two plants share a common history and form a symbiotic partnership, with the casthouse providing much of the raw material for the extruded products made next door.
Published: September 14, 2023
