Aluminium major Alcan said Monday it would invest $9.5 million in its specialty sheet facility at Neuf-Brisach, France, to upgrade its existing automotive continuous annealing and quenching line. The project is scheduled to come onstream in the first half of 2008, it said.
"By improving the quality and expanding product and process capabilities, this investment will further strengthen Alcan Specialty Sheet's position as a major player in the aluminium automotive market in Europe and demonstrates Alcan's strategic commitment to this market," said Christel Bories, president and CEO, Alcan Engineered Products.
The group said the investment would significantly improve the aluminium strip's surface and mechanical properties, to better satisfy current customer requirements and anticipate future developments in the aluminium car body market. It will further enhance Neuf-Brisach's environment, health and safety profile, it added.
"Alcan Specialty Sheet is a leading supplier of premium sheet products to the automotive industry, supported by unique R&D capabilities and efficient recycling solutions," said Christophe Villemin, presiden,t Alcan Specialty Sheet, "This investment is part of a continuing strategy to better align the Neuf-Brisach plant's capabilities, positioning it as a world-class manufacturing center for automotive sheet, can stock and recycling," he added.
In May, Alcan announced that it was investing $15 million in Neuf Brisach to add state-of-the-art aluminium can body trimming and slitting capacity, and an associated complementary packing line and new storage and dispatching capacity. In November, a further $7 million was announced to add new capacity to recycle used aluminium beverage cans.
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