Novelis breaks ground on US$180mn aluminum facility expansion in Changzhou, China

 

The US$180mn project will increase the plant’s aluminum sheet output by 100% to meet the growing demand from the Asian automotive industry, pushing annual capacity up to 200,000 metric tonnes.

 

Novelis’s press release said: “This significant expansion provides Novelis with the additional capacity needed to increase its production of innovative aluminum solutions to enable automotive manufacturers to develop the next-generation of safer, stronger and lighter vehicles”.

 

Completion of the facility’s expansion is planned for 2020 so as to coincide with the firm’s key customers’ vehicle launch plans, and it is expected to create around 160 jobs.

 

The statement added that the expansion plans include a “high-speed slitter, and a fully automated packaging line.”

 

 

 

Satish Pai, managing director of Novalis’s parent company, Hindalco Industries, said in the firm’s statement:

 

"As market demand for lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles continues to grow, Novelis will play a critical role in supporting the next generation of automotive innovation and design.

 

"This expansion reinforces our steadfast commitment to our customers and communities, and reaffirms our continued confidence in this ever-growing market."

 

Novelis said that, according to Ducker Worldwide, the adoption of high-strength, low-weight aluminum is expected to increase dramatically in the automotive industry over the next decade.

 

It added: “Novelis forecasts the Chinese automotive aluminum market is expected to achieve double-digit growth for the next decade as a result of government policies to lower carbon emissions and increased adoption of electric vehicles.”