By Barbara Lewis
LONDON, Sept 6 (Reuters) - Norsk Hydro is workingto convince Brazilian authorities to allow it to resume fulloutput at its Alunorte plant, the world's biggest aluminarefinery, following two deals pledging social and environmentalaction, a top executive said.
The deals, signed late on Wednesday in Brazil, were "animportant step" but not a guarantee it would be allowed toresume full production at Alunorte, John Thuestad, Norsk Hydro'sexecutive vice-president for bauxite and alumina, told Reuters."We see this as an important step, but for us, it is not aguarantee of getting the embargo lifted," Thuestad, who led thenegotiations with Brazilian authorities, said in a telephoneinterview on Thursday.The deals signed Wednesday include payments for food cardsfor nearby families and investments for the social developmentof local communities, as well as technical improvements. Signed with federal and state prosecutors as well as thestate government and environmental authorities, they do notinclude a timeline for resumption of production at fullcapacity.
Hydro was technically ready to restart the closed capacity,Thuestad said, and would now concentrate on convincing therelevant Brazilian judge.
"It's the right decision to reopen the facility," especiallygiven the tightness of the world's alumina market, he said.
Hydro was ordered by Brazilian regulators in February toslash output by half at Alunorte after the company admitted tomaking unlicensed emissions of untreated water during severerains. Thuestad said more than 90 inspections had established Hydrodid not cause any harmful pollution. The company has denied manyof the prosecutors' allegations and said there was no evidenceof a lasting environmental effect.
However, Thuestad said the lesson Hydro was drawing from theincident was that it needed to improve its relations with localBrazilian communities and with authorities in the country.
(Editing by Gwladys Fouche)
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