Good news from the aluminum industry. The aluminum smelters of the Essen-based company Trimet, which operates further smelters in Hamburg, Voerde and Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne in France, are set to run at full capacity again by the end of 2025.
As aluminum is produced in a very energy-intensive process, the news is a good sign for the energy-intensive industry as well as for Germany and France. Trimet is currently continuing to ramp up its aluminum production facilities. The aluminum smelters in Essen and Hamburg are expected to be operating at full capacity again by mid-2025, while full operation in Voerde is expected at the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2025, while the plant in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, France, has already put all furnaces back into operation. Numerous electrolysis furnaces at the Essen, Voerde and Hamburg sites have already been ramped up since the beginning of 2024. Now the remaining areas of the production sites are to follow suit.
To this end, Trimet has invested in the digitalization of the aluminium smelters, the renewal of the power control systems and research into emission-free furnace technology. In addition, recycling and foundry capacities were expanded in order to meet the increasing demand for secondary aluminum. In the past two years, production at Trimet has almost come to a standstill - partly due to increased energy costs. In total, Trimet will produce around 395,000 tons of primary aluminum per year in Germany, supplemented by a further 145,000 tons from France.
