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China’s first dedicated aluminium automotive sheet facility opens

Aluminium rolling and recycling company Novelis has officially opened China’s ‘first plant dedicated to the production of heat-treated aluminum automotive sheet’.

Located in the Changzhou National Hi-Tech District, the $100 million (£62.4 million) plant officially opened on Monday (20 October) and has the capacity to produce 120,000 metric tonnes of sheet a year.

Built in response to an increasing demand for aluminium, it is hoped the plant will assist China in meeting its environmental goals and provide customers in Asia (and abroad) with ‘high-quality automotive sheet’ for use in lightweight vehicle structures and body panels, such as hoods, doors, fenders and lift gates.

Indeed, Novelis estimates that each 10 per cent weight reduction in these structures can result in a five to seven per cent fuel saving.

“An important milestone for Novelis”

The opening of the new facility reportedly makes Novelis the only company to produce automotive aluminum sheet in all three of the world's major automobile producing regions: Asia; Europe; and North America.

President and CEO of Novelis, Phil Martens said: “The opening of our Changzhou plant further solidifies Novelis’ position as the aluminium partner-of-choice for automakers around the world.

“Global automakers seeking to drive fuel efficiency, higher performance and innovative design can now source locally-produced Novelis aluminium automotive sheet in every major region where they make vehicles.”

Shashi Maudgal, Senior Vice President of Novelis and President of Novelis Asia, added: “The opening of our Changzhou plant marks an important milestone for Novelis as our first manufacturing facility in China. This new facility will be integrated with our existing operations in Korea, strengthening Novelis’ leadership in the Asian market, the largest and fastest growing region in the world for aluminium.”

James Liu, Managing Director for Novelis China, said that the company was “pleased to have worked closely with the Changzhou municipal government on this project” and looked forward to being “an employer of choice in the region as Changzhou solidifies its reputation as a great place to do business in China”.

Since 2011, Novelis has invested over $550 million (approximately £343.3 million) globally, which it hopes will triple its automotive sheet capacity to 900,000 metric tons by 2015. Earlier this month, Novelis also opened the ‘world’s largest’ aluminium recycling centre in Nachterstedt, Germany.

Last week Novelis announced the closure of its Outo Preto aluminium smelter in Brazil in order to ‘focus its operations in Brazil on its core business of aluminum rolling and recycling’.

Find out more about Novelis’s new automotive sheet facility in China.

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