Novelis will increase recycling
Valor Econômico
The aluminum manufacturer Novelis, a subsidiary of Indian's Hindalco Industries, one of the major integrated producers of the metal in Asia, announced on Friday an investment of US$ 15 million in its recycling operation in Brazil. With this, it will expand the capacity of this facility, in Pindamonhangaba (SP), from 150 thousand to 200 thousand tons annually. The company said the investment involves the installation of two new furnaces and process improvements. This will increase the transformation capacity (remelting) of used beverage cans and other aluminum materials. Once processed into ingots, these materials are laminated and converted into sheets in the own lamination complex of Pindamonhangaba.
Novelis is the only supplier of aluminum sheet to manufacture beverage cans in the country, with a capacity of around 300 thousand tons per year, and the largest recycler of metal - in 2009 it processed eight billion of cans. The expansion of recycling, scheduled to be finished at the end of 2010, will allow 20% increase in the production of ingots for sheets, it said in its announcement.
Besides the Pinhamonhangaba complex, Novelis has in activity a primary aluminum production in Aratu (BA) and Ouro Preto (MG), a lamination in Santo André (SP) and nine hydroelectric plants in Minas Gerais. Worldwide, the company operates in 11 countries and obtained revenues of US$ 10.2 billion in the fiscal year of 2009. Last week, Novelis signed a multiyear contract to provide sheets for Rexam, a national leader in the market for aluminum cans for drinks. According to the agreement, Novelis will be the main supplier of metal to the body, the lid and ring of the cans manufactured by Rexam in its ten units in Brazil and Argentina.