Alcoa expands aluminum capacity around globe

The expansion in progress at Alcoa Davenport Works is the company’s largest U.S. capital project currently, but it is just one of several projects launched by the aluminum manufacturer to increase it manufacturing capacity.

Last week, Alcoa hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking of the $300 million expansion at its Riverdale plant. The project will bring a new process to Davenport Works aimed at extending the company’s reach into the growing automotive industry. With the Quad-City expansion, Alcoa has six major construction projects underway around the globe — including three other U.S. projects and two overseas.

Kevin Lowery, director of communications for Alcoa’s Global Rolled Products, said the investments are designed “to grow capacity to keep up with demand.” He said the long-term assessment of the aluminum industry is that “the consumption of aluminum is expected to double by the year 2025.”

Megatrends — such as the world’s continued urbanization “and the desire for everything from cars, airplanes to trucks to be more fuel efficient” — are all driving the demand for more aluminum, he said in an interview this week.

At Davenport Works, Alcoa is installing a new heat treatment line and a patented chemical treatment process it has developed to improve adhesive bonding for vehicle assemblies.

During last week’s ceremony, Mark Vrablec, Alcoa’s president of Aerospace, Transportation and Industrial & Specialty Products for Alcoa’s Global Rolled Products, said by the time the expansion is completed in late 2013 and the new Alcoa 951 technology is available, the auto industry will be using aluminum materials ‘from bumper to bumper.”

He added that the auto industry has said it plans to grow its aluminum use from an average of 343 pounds per car today to 550 pounds a car by 2025.

Lowery said the urbanization megatrend gives Alcoa a positive outlook for the future. “Go to China. Every other month, a city the size of Paris is created and as a result they need more buildings,” he said.

While aluminum is not the only material used in construction products, he said its lightweight, cost-effectiveness and sustainability are driving demand. “Pretty much every commercial building built, above the second floor is made out of aluminum,” he said.

Sustainability is another megatrend that bodes well for the future. “People understand the scarcity of resources and understand you can have only so many landfills. So if you have a product that can be infinitely recyclable, you have a leg up,” he said.

It is some of those megatrends, particularly urbanization, that have Alcoa spreading its reach around the globe — to be closer to its customers. “People think ‘Alcoa is just building things overseas,” he said. “That is not the case at all; we have several projects in the U.S.”

Here’s a look at some of expansions and upgrades that Alcoa has launched or announced:

Alcoa Davenport Works

Riverdale

The aluminum maker officially broke ground Friday on a $300 million expansion that will create 150 full-time Alcoa jobs and 150 temporary construction jobs.

The expansion — involving two buildings last used for storage and office space — will house a state-of-the-art heat treatment line and a patented chemical treatment process developed by Alcoa that will improve adhesive bonding for vehicle assemblies.

Once complete, the plant will have more than 130 acres under roof and will generate nearly $5 million a day into the Quad-City economy.

According to a 2011 study of automakers by Ducker Worldwide, aluminum use as a percent of the overall automotive materials mix is expected to double to 16 percent by 2025.

Alcoa and Ma’aden joint venture

Saudi Arabia

Less than a week after the celebration at Alcoa Davenport Works, the company announced plans Tuesday to extend the product mix at the new aluminum complex it is building at Ras Al Khair, Saudia Arabia. The entire project is a joint venture with Ma’aden.

The complex, which brings all of its capabilities together in one site, will contain a smelter, a rolling mill, a mine and a refinery. The smelter and mill are scheduled to begin production in 2013 followed by the mine and refinery in 2014.

The latest addition to the complex will enable the two companies to include capability for producing about 100,000 metric tons of a wide range of products for further downstream manufacturing in the complex’s product lines. They would include automotive heat-treated and non-heat-treated sheet, building and construction sheet and foil stock sheet. The line will begin production at the end of 2014.

Alcoa Cleveland Works

Cleveland, Ohio

In mid-February, Alcoa celebrated completion of its redesigned 50,000-ton forging press at its Cleveland Works operation. The $100-million investment, first announced in 2009, equips the plant with a new giant press that will strengthen Alcoa’s position as a leading supplier of large aluminum, titanium, nickel and steel forgings to the aerospace, defense, energy and industrial markets.

Back up and running now, the 92-foot-tall structure — with five stories above ground and seven below — was completely redesigned and modernized.

It first began production in 1955 when it was built as part of the Air Force Heavy Press program after World War II. It is one of only five existing heavy closed die forging presses in the United States.

Alcoa Cleveland Works manufactures the large aluminum structural die forgings for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program. The forgings include bulkheads that can weigh from 1,800 to 6,000 pounds and range from 10-23 feet in length. They are the primary structural support for the wing and engine. The plant also produces wing box parts, which serve as an important component of the wing’s skeletal structure.

Aluminum lithium expansion

Alcoa Center, Pa.

United Kingdom

Lafayette, Ind.

Alcoa announced plans in January to expand its aluminum lithium capacity and capabilities with expansions in Pennsylvania and the United Kingdom and a new state-of-the-art facility in Lafayette, Ind.

The enhancements will help Alcoa meet the growing demand by the aerospace market for its newest alloys. The alloys are used in extrusions, forgings, and sheet and plate applications across aircraft structures, including airplane wings and fuselage elements.

The largest of the expansions in the three-part project is a $90 million facility to be built adjacent to Alcoa’s Lafayette plant. When completed by the end of 2014, the facility will produce more than 20,000 metric tons of aluminum lithium and be capable of casting round and rectangular ingot for rolled, extruded and forged applications. The new facility, which will span 115,000 square feet, will create about 75 permanent jobs and 150 temporary construction jobs.

As part of Alcoa’s plans to grow its lithium capacity, the company also announced these expansions:

# Alcoa’s Technology Center in Alcoa Center, Pa., near Upper Burrell, Pa., will increase its aluminum lithium capacity by 30 percent.

# Alcoa’s Kitts Green plant in the United Kingdom has upgrades under way that will create additional casting capacity.