LONG TERM AGREEMENT WITH RUSAL
24 July 2002 - Hydro Aluminium

Hydro will participate in upgrading the aluminium cast house at RUSAL™s Sayanogorsk smelter, located in southern Siberia. The development will take place in two stages. The first stage is to be completed by the end of 2003, adding annual capacity of an 80,000 tonnes of extrusion ingot. The second stage, to follow a few years later, will further bring casting capacity up to 160,000 tonnes per year.

This will substantially increase RUSAL™s production of quality alloyed cast house products, consistent with the company™s long-term strategy of increasing the share of value-added casthouse products, including extrusion ingots, rolling slabs and primary foundry alloys, in its total production mix.

The capital investment on Hydro™s hand is very limited. Hydro Aluminium will provide its own proprietary casting equipment as well as assist with know-how, which RUSAL will deploy and supply extrusion ingots according to Hydro Aluminium™s quality specifications. This will cause Sayanogorsk to become a global source for Hydro and also to strengthen RUSAL™s position as the largest Russian exporter of high quality billets.

'This program represents an important step in our plans to invest in value-adding production capacity across the RUSAL group,' said Gulzhan Moldazhanova, RUSAL™s Director of Strategy and Corporate Development. 'In this instance, we are also delighted to be working closely with our colleagues at Hydro Aluminium. This both increases the opportunities for scale efficiencies and gives us access to world-leading technology and know-how,' Dr. Moldazhanova said.

'Hydro Aluminium is a leading supplier to the global markets for aluminium extrusion ingots. We are now preparing ourselves to meet the growing need for high-end products in Asia. This production agreement will allow Hydro to bring significant additional volumes of extrusion ingot to all our markets, ' said Svein Richard Brandtzæg, president of Hydro Aluminium™s Metal Products sector.

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