ALVANCE Aluminium Dunkerque
The Largest European Smelter
Overview
Located in Northern France, the ALVANCE Aluminium Dunkerque plant was founded in 1991. It is the largest primary aluminium smelter in Europe, specialising in the manufacture of aluminium slabs and ingots with over 99% purity, which have a high level of demand across a range of value-added applications in the transport, automotive, aerospace, packaging, building and construction industries.
The site has three major manufacturing areas, which include anode production, electrolysis and foundry.
The anode production section manufactures the anodes used on site during the electrolysis process. Materials used include pitch and coke as well as recycled anodes.
The electrolysis department produces the primary aluminium that is formed into slabs and ingots. The aluminium is produced in two 850-meter-long electrolysis halls, into 264 reduction cells.
The foundry department receives the liquid aluminium from the electrolysis department and casts both slab, using the DC casting method for the rolling industry, or alloys and cast foundry ingot for use in the automotive sector.
284kt tonnes of annual smelting capacity
450MW of power used
65Ha site
The largest European Smelter
