Rio Tinto Alcan is boosting production at a Quebec plant that will make a lightweight aluminum-lithium alloy to be used extensively in Bombardier's new CSeries airliners.
The Montreal-based division of global miner Rio Tinto is spending $3 million to increase production by more than 50 per cent at its plant in Dubuc, Que..
Rio Tinto Alcan declined to disclose details about production or sales of its Airware products for competitive reasons.
The Airware technology creates a strong yet lightweight material used by NASA that will soon be taking flight on Bombardier's (TSX:BBD.B) CSeries and the Airbus A350 XWB.
The production increase comes after it signed a contract with Constellium, a former subsidiary sold earlier this year, which is the exclusive supplier to the CSeries.
About 50 jobs will be created on top of the 70 who already work at the facility in the Saguenay region of Quebec, said Rio Tinto Alcan spokeswoman Claudine Gagnon. Construction is already underway to add 495 square metres to the 5,900-square-metre facility.
Production is expected to increase by the end of July.
"The agreement with Dubuc Works clearly demonstrates the need for our facilities to adapt to market demands and respond to client requirements and standards," said Rio Tinto Alcan vice-president Etienne Jacques.
Constellium president Christophe Villemin said increased production will help the company meet "soaring demand" for the Airware technology.
In addition to being 25 per cent lighter than other materials, Constellium claims Airware reduces assembly and maintenance costs and has a lower overall environmental footprint.
Airware offers a range of aircraft products, including the fuselage, wings and tail fins.
The parts are more durable and have greater resistance to fatigue and corrosion. Like all aluminum products, they are 100 per cent recyclable.
Bombardier said the Airware technology will provide the primary structure for the CSeries and will comprise more than 20 per cent of all materials used on the 110- to 149-seat plane.
The technology, which is based on the mastering of low density alloys, will allow Bombardier to develop a fuselage by "combining sheets and extrusions to manufacture fuselage skins, stringers, frames and floor beams."
Constellium recently displayed a fuselage panel of the CSeries made using the Airware process at the Paris Air Show.
The plane, which is made from advanced materials and powered by a new Pratt & Whitney engine, promises a 15 per cent reduction in cash operating costs and a 20 per cent reduction in fuel costs.
Airbus will use Airware metal sheets and forged parts for key structural elements of the wings on the new A350 wide-body aircraft.
Constellium, formerly Alcan Engineered Products, makes a variety of aluminum products for the aerospace, mass transportation, automotive, packaging, energy and construction sectors.
The Paris-based company employs nearly to 9,500 employees in 26 countries, including 3,400 in the aerospace division.
In addition to Quebec, Airware products are made in Ravenswood, Calif., and Issoire, France.
Rio Tinto completed the sale of the division in January to a group headed by New York's Apollo Management. Rio Tinto maintains a 39 per cent ownership along with 10 per cent held by a French government fund.
Sales were US$4.4 billion last year.
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