A Korean joint venture of Atlanta-headquartered Novelis, Novelis Korea Ltd, will invest $4.1 million to install Novelis Fusion (TM) casting technology in its Ulsan, South Korea, plant.
The proprietary Novelis technology is for commercial production of aluminum ingots with multiple alloy layers, a Novelis statement Thursday said. The ingots can then be rolled into sheet products with previously unattainable combinations of product attributes, such as high strength and high formability.
The Novelis Fusion casting center at Ulsan is expected to be operational by mid-2007 and will have an initial annual capacity of more than 25,000 mt. The Korean investment continues the global roll-out of the technology which first entered production in March of this year at the company's plant in Oswego, New York.
In September, Novelis announced that it will invest $32 million in the construction of a Novelis Fusion casthouse at its Sierre, Switzerland, facility.
"The existing configuration of the Ulsan casting facilities allows a rapid and cost-efficient conversion to the Novelis Fusion process," said Martha Brooks, chief operating officer for Novelis Inc. Traditional multi-alloy aluminum ingots are produced using a manual cladding process, and are limited to a small range of alloys. Novelis Fusion technology delivers both process and product improvements, including the ability to cast previously impossible combinations of alloys.
"Commercially, this investment will open the door to a new range of high-end product offerings in Asia," said Jacquie Bartlett, vice president, sales and marketing, for Novelis Korea. "With the Novelis Fusion technology, we will start by offering a full range of high-quality brazing sheet and fin stock products to local customers that today must rely on imports."
This is Novelis' second major investment in South Korea this year. In March, Novelis announced that it will invest $30 million over a two-year period to increase production capacity at its Yeongju rolling mill by 100,000 mt and expand its capability in the beverage can end market. Novelis Korea is a joint venture company between Novelis (68%), Taihan Electric Wire (31%), and Hyundai Group (1%). Its plants in Yeongju and Ulsan were commissioned in 1993 to meet the growing demand for rolled aluminum products principally in Korea, China and Southeast Asia. Including its corporate office in Seoul, Novelis Korea has more than 1,200 employees.
Parent company Novelis operates in 11 countries and has approximately 12,500 employees. The company supplies aluminum sheet and foil to the automotive and transportation, beverage and food packaging, construction and industrial, and printing markets.
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