Norsk Hydro annual reporting 2017

"Among multiple highlights in 2017, the addition to the family was a defining
moment. Although our renewed and extended organization embraced the new chapter
of Hydro, and got off to a flying start of 2018, the Alunorte situation in
Brazil shows us that we have lots of unfinished work to do also on the more
basic level," President and CEO Svein Richard Brandtzæg writes in his letter to
shareholders.



"The Alunorte situation demands the best of us and will be a touchstone of our
ability to put firm action behind our words and aspirations. Resolving the
Alunorte situation in a way that meets our highest standards and satisfy our
stakeholders, is also a precondition to maintain the momentum of the rest of
Hydro. I truly believe that the learnings will expedite firm improvements in our
way of performing social responsibility - because we want to, but also because
we have to. We have not done enough to demonstrate that we are on the same side
as the communities we are a part of, in order to contribute to sustainable
growth and development to our mutual benefit. We should have been better
prepared, as this is incorporated in the history and culture of our company. Now
is the time to show rather than tell," Brandtzæg says

"With Extruded Solutions onboard, expanding our customer interfaces and
sharpening our engineering spirit, Hydro's aluminium operations now range from
mining to recycling, and every step in between, making Hydro the truly global
360 aluminium company. Going forward together with 35,000 skillful and dedicated
colleagues at 150 locations in 40 countries, is inspiring. As a complete
aluminium family we can put our metal and material to good use in even more
applications, light-weighting and energizing the world through smart solutions.
We are getting closer to the end-users. We are more often getting into the room
with the product designers. We can learn from the agility of our new family
members. And our innovators and entrepreneurs have a momentum to explore and
take advantage of all the undiscovered opportunities in the space between
extruded and rolled aluminium," Brandtzæg continues.

"The advances, operationally, financially and technologically, convince me that
Better, Bigger and Greener are not only great guidelines individually. Measures
to support one of them may often also contribute to the progress of the others.
Examples are ramping up the Karmøy Technology Pilot in Norway, the automotive
line 3 and the used beverage can recycling line in Germany, offering to the
market the brand new Hydro 75R product, guaranteeing at least 75 percent post-
consumer scrap recycled content, and the certified Hydro 4.0 product, with a
carbon footprint of less than 4 kg CO2 per kilo aluminium, as well as the offer
to acquire the Icelandic hydropower-based primary aluminium plant ISAL and the
decision to upgrade and restart the second line at Husnes. These initiatives,
investments and measures are part of Hydro's Better, Bigger, Greener aspiration,
and will contribute both to the climate and our financial bottom-line. They
reflect our firm belief in aluminium as a metal, material and part of the
solution - and that business targets and climate targets may very well go hand
in hand," Brandtzæg says.

"By being a 360 aluminium company, fully integrated along the aluminium value-
chain, Hydro is in a unique position to control every step of production, and be
responsible - for the land, water and forests, for our employees and the
communities we engage with, for the energy use and emissions in our processes,
and for bringing end products back into the loop to be used over again. At the
same time, the situation emerging in February and March after the extreme
rainfalls in the Barcarena region where our alumina refinery Alunorte is
situated, illustrates very clearly that adapting to climate changes and having
high ambitions for social responsibility, community dialogue and human rights
are not issues that are resolved once and forever. They are issues that demand
ever more resolve, and it is crucial to always stay ahead in order not to be
caught off guard by unforeseen incidents," Brandtzæg says.

"Also regarding safety, we need to make additional efforts to improve
performance, as we cannot accept that the positive trend over the years seem to
flatten out and give us setbacks. Two fatalities in 2017 show that we must
intensify not only our efforts but also our abilities - at the leadership levels
as well as on the shop floor where high risk incidents may have fatal
consequences," Brandtzæg says.

"Global megatrends support the future of aluminium as metal and material and as
a building block of modern societies. Our 360 value-chain and our innovative
powers are enablers for us as a company to be a forerunner in our industry. At
the same time, our belief in continuous improvement proves more crucial than
ever, in operations, of course, but most certainly within corporate social
responsibility as well", Brandtzæg adds.

The report, meeting the Norwegian statutory requirements for annual reporting,
is "Financial Statements and Board of Directors' Report - 2017." This report is
available in Norwegian and English.

In addition, a more extensive report is available, "Annual Report - 2017," with
detailed information about Hydro's businesses, operational performance,
financial performance, viability performance, corporate governance and financial
statements. The report is available in English.

At www.hydro.com/reporting2017 content from the two reports is presented with
supplementary information. All parts of the reports can be downloaded from this
web site and printed in PDF format on demand.

Hydro's main reporting on viability performance is included in the "Annual
Report - 2017," with additional details on www.hydro.com/reporting2017



Investor contact
Stian Hasle
+47 97736022
Stian.Hasle@hydro.com

Press contact
Halvor Molland
+47 92979797
Halvor.Molland@hydro.com


Cautionary note
Certain statements included in this announcement contain forward-looking
information, including, without limitation, information relating to (a)
forecasts, projections and estimates, (b) statements of Hydro management
concerning plans, objectives and strategies, such as planned expansions,
investments, divestments, curtailments or other projects, (c) targeted
production volumes and costs, capacities or rates, start-up costs, cost
reductions and profit objectives, (d) various expectations about future
developments in Hydro's markets, particularly prices, supply and demand and
competition, (e) results of operations, (f) margins, (g) growth rates, (h) risk
management, and (i) qualified statements such as "expected", "scheduled",
"targeted", "planned", "proposed", "intended" or similar.



Although we believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements are reasonable, these forward-looking statements are based on a
number of assumptions and forecasts that, by their nature, involve risk and
uncertainty. Various factors could cause our actual results to differ materially
from those projected in a forward-looking statement or affect the extent to
which a particular projection is realized. Factors that could cause these
differences include, but are not limited to: our continued ability to reposition
and restructure our upstream and downstream businesses; changes in availability
and cost of energy and raw materials; global supply and demand for aluminium and
aluminium products; world economic growth, including rates of inflation and
industrial production; changes in the relative value of currencies and the value
of commodity contracts; trends in Hydro's key markets and competition; and
legislative, regulatory and political factors.



No assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been
correct.  Hydro disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.


This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section
5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.