Elektroliza, of Mostar’s Aluminij, today produced its three millionth ton of liquid metal since it began work in the late 1970s.
Aluminij d.d. Mostar, in the year when it’s celebrating its 20th anniversary since its reopening after the destruction thereof during the war, achieved significant success, which is proven by the fact that three million tons of high-quality aluminum have reached tens of countries all across the world.
Alumij, under its famous name, was established in 1977, since when it has grown into the carrier of the development of the aluminum industry in BiH and the backbone of this region’s life. In 1992, the aggressor destroyed, plundered and burned the factory. The damages are estimated to be at 140 million Euros. Reconstruction started in 1995 and the Anode plant started with work in 1997, as well as the first electrolytic cell Elektroliza. The full capacity of 256 electrolytic cells was achieved in November 1999. Alumij has, since then, thoroughly modernized its plants, reaching electrolytic metal purity of 99.85%, making it recognizable across the world and its metal some of the most demanded in the world market.
The recession and bad management have caused 25% of the cells to be shut down, but the current management is working to get them working again, which is expected to cost around 15 million BAM.
“The fact that we could have achieved this number a long time ago, if only some things in the past were done differently, saddens me. Nonetheless, when I remember everything that we went through, especially last year’s almost hopeless state, as well as the strong and capable team, I’m overwhelmed by a feeling of incredible pride of all our workers, especially those in production,” Boris Vican, the executive director for technical works and a member of the Steering Board, commented while congratulating his colleagues on the three millionth ton which was produced today at a temperature of 950 degrees C by workers who worked at a temperature of over 60 degrees C, wearing several layers of heavy protective gear.
That metal is now cooling in the pits, ready to win over the world market, while the director of the firm and president of the Steering Board Mario Gadzic contently says that they’ll be celebrating the next round number a lot sooner.
“This is a number that we must respect. We’re dedicated to conduct the all-encompassing restructuring of the way Aluminij does its business. By October of next year, we’ll have all 256 cells working and, with maximally optimized process of blending, be able to break new records in the amount of aluminum produced. We’re still far away from the place where we can say that we’ve passed all of our problems. However, last year we were almost going bankrupt and today we’re activating the shutdown part of production and aiming higher than ever before, including finalizing the product in our own factories,” said the satisfied director.
(Source: Klix.ba)
