VIP Hydro delegation visits Qatalum

Qatalum hosted a 17 person delegation from Hydro, who during their tour, were impressed by the progress of the plant and its world class operational status.





On November 17 and 18, 2015 the Norsk Hydro Board, top management along with Svein Richard Brandtzæg, President and Chief Executive Officer and Hilde Merete Aasheim Executive, Vice President Primary Metal visited Qatar. On the 17 November, they held meetings in Doha and met with President and CEO of QP, Saad Sherida al-Kaabi and Qatalum’s Board Chairman Abdul Rahman Ahmad Al Shaibi. The talks discussed mutual interests and the progress of the lasting relationship between Hydro and Qatar Petroleum.

On the 18 November, the 17 visitors were hosted by Qatalum. The opening session of the visit consisted of presentations by management on operational status, followed by a tour of the smelter. Each operational Chief also preceded his tour with an area presentation.







Throughout the tour several areas were commented upon. The first being HSE. The visitors were impressed by the progress Qatalum has made, sometimes from very challenging situations, to achieve excellent results. The reference point being Qatalum’s TRIR figures which rank as the best amongst smelters’, globally.

People within the plant were also recognised. The Board found it reassuring to see 41 nationalities within the organisation working as one team and acknowledged the role competent management plays to facilitate this at Qatalum.





In regards to performance, the Hydro Board were impressed with the overall uptime of the Qatalum smelter. Of particular note was uptime of the Power Plant with reached 99.57% availability in 2015.

Housekeeping was also noticed and commented upon, as being ‘a very clean smelter within Hydro’s standard’.





Upon completion of the tour and within the debriefing, the group suggested minor improvements which were taken on board and will be worked upon in due course.

CEO, Khalid Laram said about the visit, “Our objective was to provide Hydro with a transparent and thorough view of the Plant. Evidently, the visit made a very good impression on them and stands as proof as to how important Qatalum is to Hydro and as a testament to the continued hard work of Qatalum employees. We are very proud of our achievements, the positive feedback and hosting the Hydro Board at Qatalum.”