Neuss (dpa / lnw) - The aluminum company Speira is drastically reducing production at its Rheinwerk in Neuss due to high electricity prices. The decision was made to reduce the production of primary aluminum to 50 percent for the time being, and thus to just 70,000 tons per year, the company announced on Wednesday in Neuss. This is a consequence of rising energy costs. The company has around 5,000 employees, mainly in Norway and Germany, 800 of whom work in the Neuss plant.
Speira boss Einar Glomnes said that energy prices had reached too high a level in the past few months. An improvement is not in sight in the near future. Speira said that the employees would look for solutions in close coordination with the works council. There should be no redundancies.
The shutdown process will be initiated in October and expected to be completed in November. The recycling work, which also takes place in the plant alongside new production, is not affected by the measure.
Speira has been around since 2021, the company used to be the rolling division of the Norwegian aluminum group Norsk Hydro and was then sold to US financial investors. The company needs a lot of electricity to produce new aluminum. The company also uses gas, but these processes are not affected by the reduction measures that have now been decided.
