CBA studies US$613.5 million investment
Valor Econômico - 06/04/2008
Without making much noise, Companhia Brasileira do Alumínio - CBA (Brazilian Aluminum Company), is carrying out studies to make a new and large investment in its plant, located in Alumínio, at 75 km away from São Paulo. The company, controlled by the Votorantim group, completes 53 years of operation today and plans on installing a modern plate laminator, aiming at operating in two important markets - packages, such as cans for beverage, and automotive. The two sectors are the major consumers of aluminum in the world, and in Brazil they are the sectors with greater growth potential. The company confirms the studies, but it does not mention values of investment. A piece of equipment of this magnitude - between 500 thousand and 600 thousand tons of capacity a year, which allows the manufacturing of highly resistant material - does not cost little. Some estimates of the aluminum industry point to at least R$ 1 billion (US$ 613.5 million), an amount that CBA uses to investing in its operations annually. Run by Antonio Ermírio de Moraes, CBA is the company that most invests in the production of aluminum in the country. Since 2003, it has already doubled its capacity to manufacture the metal, from 240 thousand to 475 thousand tons, with investments of R$ 5 billion (US$ 2 billion) in the period, including the generation of energy in its own hydroelectric power plants to guarantee 60% of the total consumption. At the moment, the company is investing another R$ 2.5 billion (US$ 1.53 billion), until the end of 2009, to set up a new line of 95 thousand tons, to build two other hydroelectric power plants, and to enlarge two lines of finished products in the plant: one of profiles and another one of sheets. All the investments in the CBA - the new ones and the expansion ones, from mining to hydroelectric power plants - have to receive the green light from Antonio Ermírio, who knows the company as the palm of his hand. The entrepreneur always reinvests the entire profit in the company; sometimes even more. Last year, the profit was R$ 800 million (US$ 414.5 million), he invested R$ 1 billion (US$ 518.1 million) and he has already budgeted R$ 1.5 billion (US$ 920.2 million) for 2008. The goal now is to reach the mark of 570 thousand tons of production in 2010.