Company Profile
Hydro Aluminum North America Inc
Company Overview
Company Profile:
Hydro Aluminum North America is a unit of Norsk Hydro, a global supplier of aluminum and aluminum products. Based in Norway, the company employs 19,000 people in 40 countries and has activities on all continents. Rooted in a century of experience in renewable energy production, technology development and progressive partnerships, Hydro is committed to strengthening the viability of the customers and communities it serves.
Within North America, Hydro provides aluminum solutions including supply sourcing, extrusion, finishing, and fabrication of components, as well as engineering and contract manufacturing services, for a variety of industries. Our North America network consists of casthouse/remelt, extrusion, drawn tubing, fabrication, finishing and contract manufacturing facilities that span from the East Coast to Mexico.
Hydro is a values based business. By using our values of courage, respect, cooperation, determination and foresight to guide our business, we ensure that our businesses create shared economic and social value for our employees, shareholders, stakeholders and host communities.
Company History
A history of innovation
Hydro’s history is a journey of evolution, spanning more than a century, many industries and several continents.
Through it all, three characteristics have remained consistent: the spirit of entrepreneurship, a dedication to innovation and careful nurturing of a system of values. These traits have created the company that Hydro is today.
Beginnings
The journey began in 1903, when two Norwegians, entrepreneur Sam Eyde and professor and inventor Kristian Birkeland, created a method for using electricity to capture nitrogen from the atmosphere.
This was part of an industrial revolution, which ironically had stimulated global population growth, but had yet to create an adequate industrial farming system. Using Norway’s vast potential for hydroelectric power, nitrogen-based industrial fertilizers could be created relatively easily and at a reasonable cost.
Industrial giant
When Hydro was established in 1905, Norway had just won its sovereignty, but was nevertheless among the poorest countries in Europe.
Hydro's share capital was mostly French, some Swedish and only to a small degree Norwegian. The Swedish industrialist and banker Marcus Wallenberg became the company's first chairman of the board, a position he held for 37 years. Hydro quickly became one of Norway’s first industrial giants.
In the early years, Hydro's industrial activities, as well as its power production, were concentrated in Telemark. But new challenges came in the form of the First World War, trade barriers and depressed markets. In the mid-1920s, it was also necessary for Hydro to let external technology replace its original – but no longer competitive – proprietary technology to produce the company's key product, ammonium. The times of depression in the 1930s were equally turbulent for Hydro.
Wartime challenges
The Second World War brought new challenges to Hydro, as Norway was occupied by Germany and many Hydro facilities were damaged by Allied attacks. The most famous of these was the Telemark sabotage mission of 1943, closing down a German-operated “heavy water” facility in Hydro’s plant at Rjukan.
Post-war growth
Following the war, Hydro was free again and set off on an aggressive rebuilding program. The company evolved into a modern post-war industrial conglomerate, with new businesses in plastics, petroleum and light metals. In the 1970s, Hydro began to expand internationally.
In the 1980s and 1990s, Hydro further expanded its petroleum and aluminium activities. In 2004, the fertilizer and industrial gas businesses were established as an independent company, Yara International.
Bold steps
More change was yet to come. The circle closed in 2007, when Hydro took one of the boldest steps in its restructuring process, merging its oil and gas operations with Statoil.
What remained was the new Hydro: a global, integrated aluminium company.
US
Growth has been due to aquistion of VAW Aluminum and Wells Aluminum in the early 2000 time frame.
Notable Accomplishments / Recognition
At Hydro Aluminum in North America we strive to understand your aluminum business as well as we understand our own. We enjoy long-term relationships with a majority of our customers and are the primary aluminum supplier for many.
We have more than 50 years of experience in key industries and know the special requirements and standards for aluminum product quality, production cycles, packaging, and much more required in each industry.
Markets in which we have significant experience include:
Aluminum in Transportation
- Automotive
- Trucking
- Buses
- Marine
Industrial Aluminum
Solar Energy
Electrical Aluminum
Aluminum in Consumer Durables
- Office Components
- Healthcare
- Leisure & Recreation
Building and Construction Aluminum
- Architectural products
- Patio doors
- General construction
Benefits
Hydro offers competitive salaries, relocation assistance, 401K dollar for dollar match up to 4%, and comprehensive benefit plans
EOE - Drug Free Workplace
Position requires the right to work in the United States- Local Conditions Apply
Visit Hydro Aluminum on-line for additional company information:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/HydroAluminumNorthAmerica
Linked-In: http://www.linkedin.com/company/1814801?trk=tyah
Twitter: http://twitter.com/HydroAluminum
Twitter: http://twitter.com/Aluminum_jobs