Alro S.A. announced the completion of new $3.4 million in investments in the areas of energy efficiency, competitiveness and upgrading of production lines in the primary aluminum sector.

„We are continuing to actively implement the “Green Factory” concept by using the latest available technologies, that will allow us to both increase our efficiency and get closer to our zero-emissions and zero-waste targets”, said Gheorghe Dobra, General Manager Alro S.A.

As part of its competitiveness increase program, Alro successfully completed the operation tests for the upgraded slabs casting line. This line was upgraded using world-leading Wagstaff technology, in order to allow the casting of all types of aluminium alloys.

“The total slabs production volume increased by over 50% over the last five years, while the production of hard alloys for the aerospace industry tripled during the same period. This investment will allow us to be up to the demand of the processed aluminium division both in terms of volume and quality”, said Dobra.

“We have also completed the testing of an electromagnetic stirring equipment that will increase the efficiency of the remelting operations. It is a contract of almost USD 650,000 with one of the most important producers of equipment for aluminium dross and scrap processing systems. The solution we implemented will increase the output while reducing the consumption of both natural gas and electricity”, added Dobra. Dobra.

Over the past 15 years, Alro has consistently invested in operational efficiency improvement programs with very good results compared to the average of the aluminium industry. The business plan for the 2017-2021 period includes total investments of over USD 190 million, of which over USD 100 million are for energy efficiency projects.

In the processed aluminium sector, Alro has upgraded processing lines, introduced new technologies and equipment with high energy efficiency. In addition, the Company has implemented the concept of predictive maintenance and digitization. All these have resulted in an increase by four times of the processed aluminium production and a reduction in the specific electricity consumption by five times. The state-of-the-art technology has enabled the company to introduce new types of products in its portfolio, for automotive and aerospace industries.