Alcoa breaks ground on $275M Tennessee expansion to meet automotive demand for aluminum
30 August 2013
Alcoa broke ground on a $275-million expansion of its Tennessee Operations to meet growing aluminum demand for auto production. Demand for aluminum, already the number two material used to build cars, is expected to nearly double by 2025.
The previously announced expansion will convert some of the plant’s can sheet capacity to high-strength automotive aluminum capacity, as well as install incremental automotive capacity, making it a key supplier to both the packaging and automotive markets.
The Tennessee expansion is the second major automotive expansion by Alcoa in North America to meet car makers’ demand; a $300-million expansion of Alcoa’s Davenport, Iowa plant has already begun commissioning and is set to be completed by the end of 2013. Much of the volume for the automotive expansions is secured under long-term supply agreements.
There is a worldwide surplus of low cost aluminum. Can Tennessee compete with lower cost energy in UAR and very low cost Indian/Pakistan labor?
Posted by: HarveyD | 30 August 2013 at 07:52 PM