Novelis completes $400m expansion in Korea

Novelis has completed a two-year, US$400 million expansion program in South Korea which will increase its production capacity in the region by more than 50%.

“Investing further in Korea has been a key element in the company’s global strategy,” said Phil Martens, president and CEO of Novelis.

“Asia is the largest and fastest-growing region in the world for aluminium, and this expansion allows us to maintain our leadership in this dynamic region across key markets such as beverage cans, consumer electronics and automobiles.”

Novelis began the expansion of its Yeongju and Ulsan facilities in 2011 to meet the rising demand for flat-rolled aluminium in high value-added products in the Asian market. The expansion includes a hot rolling finishing mill, cold rolling mill, pusher furnace, high-speed slitter and annealing furnaces - in addition to the previously commissioned, fully integrated recycling centre at Yeongju.

“The expansion enables Novelis to expand into new markets within the region,” said Shashi Maudgal, senior vice president and president, Novelis Asia.

“We can now supply coils to our new automotive sheet finishing plant in Changzhou, China, which is expected to commence production in mid-2014. Furthermore, we can now pursue new business opportunities in high value-added markets like consumer electronics where a high-quality surface finish is required.”

Novelis opened a new aluminium recycling and casting centre at its Yeongju facility in October 2012. This operation is the largest aluminium beverage can recycling centre in Asia, with the capacity to produce 265,000 tons of sheet ingot. The Yeongju Recycling Center is one of a series of recycling and casting expansion projects launched by Novelis over the past two years to increase its recycling and casting capacity to 2.1 million tons globally by 2015.