OSLO – Norwegian aluminium-maker Norsk Hydro will miss its 2018 cost-cutting target as its troubled Brazilian operation continues to work at reduced capacity following a spill in February from a major plant, it said on Wednesday.
A regulatory order to cut output from Hydro's Alunorte, the world's largest alumina refinery, also triggered cutbacks at the firm's nearby Albras aluminium plant and a scramble among other factories and customers for supplies.
Hydro's outage and US sanctions imposed on the world's number two aluminium producer, Rusal, caused fears of a supply crunch, briefly lifting the metal's price this month to seven-year highs, although the rally later faded.
Hydro's underlying Jan-March earnings before interest and taxes rose by 38% year-on-year to 3.15-billion Norwegian crowns, beating the 3.06-billion expected in a Reuters poll of analysts.