Novelis, the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, today commissioned a $200 million expansion of its rolling operations in Oswego, NY. The expansion increases the company's North American capacity for producing aluminum sheet for the automotive industry by 240,000 tons, five times the company's existing capacity in the region.
"This automotive expansion in North America is an important piece of our global strategy in a market that is experiencing explosive growth," said Phil Martens, Novelis President and Chief Executive Officer.
Novelis began construction on two new high-performance aluminum processing lines for automotive applications at its Oswego facility in 2011 in response to escalating demand for automotive aluminum sheet in the United States. The company added more than 100 jobs at the Oswego plant as a result of the expansion.
"Today's commissioning marks an important milestone in Novelis' ongoing commitment to serving the automotive industry," said Marco Palmieri, Senior Vice President and President, Novelis North America. "Intensive use of aluminum in vehicles is growing more than 25 percent a year. Not only does this expansion allow us to respond to the rapidly increasing demand for aluminum automotive sheet, it also plays a key role in our ongoing recycling efforts to further improve the sustainability of aluminum in vehicles."
Novelis is the world's leading provider of aluminum automotive sheet, used for making structural components and exterior body panels. Novelis aluminum can be found in more than 180 different vehicle models produced by leading automakers around the globe.
The company is investing around the world to boost its automotive finishing capabilities. In addition to the Oswego expansion, a new plant is under construction in Changzhou, China, which is expected to commence production in mid-2014 and will have a capacity of 120,000 tons.
Aluminum is the sustainable choice for vehicles because of its recyclability and low weight. To meet new fuel economy standards, North American auto makers are using more aluminum in cars to make them lighter and more fuel efficient. New federal regulations are challenging automakers to boost the fuel economy of their vehicles to approximately 54.5 miles per gallon by model year 2025 and to reduce emissions.
The Novelis Oswego facility is an integrated recycling, hot rolling and cold rolling complex producing aluminum sheet for the beverage can, automotive and building and construction industries. Producing more than a billion pounds of high-quality aluminum sheet each year, Oswego is the company's largest, wholly-owned fabrication facility in North America. The plant currently employs approximately 850 people.
