Novelis opens China’s first manufacturing facility for heat-treated aluminum automotive sheet

21 October 2014

Novelis officially opened China’s first plant dedicated to the production of heat-treated aluminum automotive sheet. The opening makes Novelis the only company to produce automotive aluminum sheet in all three of the world’s major automobile producing regions: Asia, Europe and North America.

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The wholly-owned facility, located in the Changzhou National Hi-Tech District, represents a $100-million investment by Novelis to expand its global footprint to serve the rapidly growing market for automotive aluminum. With an annual capacity of 120,000 metric tons, the new facility will assist China in meeting its environmental goals and provide customers in Asia and abroad with high-quality automotive sheet for use in lightweight vehicle structures and body panels such as hoods, doors, fenders and lift gates.

Since 2011, Novelis has invested more than $550 million globally to triple its automotive sheet capacity to 900,000 metric tons by 2015. Demand for aluminum is rapidly increasing as automakers strive to design a new generation of lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles with reduced life-cycle emissions. Each 10% weight reduction can result in a 5-7% fuel savings.

Currently, Novelis aluminum products are now featured in more than 180 models of vehicles produced by leading automakers around the globe. Novelis forecasts the global demand from automakers for aluminum sheet will grow by approximately 30% each year through the end of the decade.