Novelis intends to double production of aluminum laminates
DCI
The contract for the enlargement of the largest production unit of aluminum laminate of Novelis was signed yesterday with Siemens AG, but the company, which is part of the Indian group Aditya Birla, already plans a new expansion for the coming years. With that, the company may double its installed productive capacity to 800 thousand tons of product a year. The aluminum laminate of Novelis is used mainly in the manufacture of beverage cans, a market in which the company holds 15% of share in Brazil and nearly 20% in the world. According to the International President of Novelis, Phil Martens, who was in Brazil yesterday for the event, the beginning of the works of the first phase of expansion of the production will consume a value of nearly US$ 300 million until 2012. The focus of the company is precisely the market of laminates and, therefore, it does not foresee additional investments in the other units it has in Brazil.
Besides the lamination business Novelis has another three units in the country. Two of them, the units of Aratu (BA) and Ouro Preto (MG), produce the primary aluminum, an electro-intensive activity. On its turn, the third plant of the company located in Santo André (SP) produces the aluminum sheets used in the packaging market, in thermal insulation, in automotive radiators and coatings for electric cables, among other applications. In spite of in, the unit that received the resources for the expansion of production is the largest of the plants the company has in the country, originally built by Alcan three decades ago.
"Brazil has one of the greatest growth opportunities in the world. The economic conditions, allied to events like the FIFA World Cup and the Olympics, turn the country into a positive place to invest", said Martens, who reiterated the relevance of the investment announcement made in May this year. "This is the greatest investment made Novelis in the world in the past five years".
According to the President of Novelis for South America, Alexandre Almeida, of the total amount invested by the multinational, US$ 100 million will be used in the phases of civil construction and putting up of the structure that will receive the new rolling mill. The machine will be responsible for adding 200 thousand tons to the plant capacity, which is currently of 400 thousand tons a year.
Much of the raw materials the company uses currently come from scrap recycled at the very plant in the interior of São Paulo. To keep up with such expansion, Novelis has also increased the recycling of aluminum cans. Until January 2011 the company will have finished the increase of its processing capacity from 150 thousand tons of cans a year to 200 thousand tons a year. Another US$ 15 million were invested the activity.