EL7.AI
StocksMedium•23 October 2026•
3 min read

Hydro estimates gas crisis and production cuts will cost between 75 and 100 million dollars

Key Facts

1Hydro estimated the potential financial impact of production cuts and gas purchases above the contractual price at between 75 and 100 million dollars in the third quarter.
2Hydro forecast an impact from the gas cost differential at Alunorte of between 90 and 110 million dollars in the fourth quarter of 2026.
3Alunorte cut alumina production to 50% following disruptions to natural gas supplies.
4Hydro's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation totalled 8,923 million kroner in the second quarter of 2026, compared with 7,790 million kroner a year earlier.

Norsk Hydro estimated the potential financial impact of production cuts and higher gas purchase costs on its bauxite and alumina business at between 75 and 100 million dollars in the third quarter of 2026, according to an update issued ahead of its quarterly results. Hydro attributed the estimate to production cuts and gas purchases at prices above the contractual price. Alunorte had announced in August that it was cutting alumina output to 50% following disruptions to natural gas availability from supplier Celba. The company said at the time that "Alunorte has therefore reduced alumina production to 50%." The estimated financial impact on the business included the consequences of reduced production as well as the additional cost of gas purchased above the contractually agreed price. The warning ahead of the results put supply costs and operating levels at Alunorte among the pressures facing the bauxite and alumina business during the quarter.

The warnings followed an increase in Hydro's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation in the second quarter of 2026, according to the company's published results for that quarter. Earnings on that basis totalled 8,923 million Norwegian kroner, compared with 7,790 million kroner in the same period a year earlier. In the third quarter of 2025, the company reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of 5,996 million Norwegian kroner. Earnings in the year-earlier comparison period were 7,367 million kroner, according to that quarter's results announcement. The year-on-year increase in the second quarter of 2026 thus followed a year-on-year decline in the third quarter of 2025. In an earlier market reaction ahead of the current results announcement, Hydro shares fell 3% during the Friday session covered by Investing.com in September. The website reported that the decline followed JPMorgan's downgrade of the stock to "neutral" from "overweight" amid gas cost risks at Alunorte.

Hydro's estimate of the fallout from the gas crisis extends into the fourth quarter of 2026, with an additional impact expected from the gas cost differential at Alunorte. The company said in its update that "the estimated impact of the gas cost differential at Alunorte in the fourth quarter of 2026 ranges between 90 and 110 million dollars." This estimate relates to the gas cost differential at the facility, while the third-quarter warning combined gas purchases above the contractual price with production cuts. Hydro set 23 October 2026 as the date for publishing its quarterly results in its financial calendar. It announced an English-language results webcast at 08:30 Central European Summer Time on the same day. According to the invitation, the results presentation will be followed by a live question-and-answer session.