Norsk Hydro said that the downturn in aluminium product consumption is bottoming but was cautious about trading conditions in the H2 of 2009.

Earlier, the world's third largest integrated aluminium supplier and a major energy producer in Norway reported a smaller than expected loss in the Q2 and forecast markets would remain weak in the Q3.

Mr Svein Richard Brandtzaeg CEO of Norsk Hydro said that "The downturn is not continuing as we saw in Q1 and the beginning of Q2 but we should be careful not to extrapolate."

He added that "Normally the H1 is better than the H2 in downstream because of seasonal factors."

Norsk has seen demand fall sharply as the global economic crisis weighed on aluminium producers and its clients in the automotive and construction industry. But the company expects confidence in the global economy to return in the H2 of 2010.

Mr Brandtzaeg said that "I'm not optimistic about a short term upturn in the market, I'm more optimistic about the H2 of 2010 because that's when confidence will be back."

(Sourced from Reuters)