Constellium invests €28m in value-added aluminium
The plan includes the building of a new pusher furnace that the company said would consolidate its leading position within the “growing can packaging market”.
This investment forms part of a €13m euro investment by the firm, headquartered in Paris, at its Neuf-Brisach site near the German border - to modernise its pre-heating processes.
The company said that this French site – which produces aluminium coils and sheets – was a major supplier of rolled aluminium products to the food and beverage packaging (foodstock and canstock), as well as automotive markets.
A further €4m investment at a site in Singen (Germany) would be made in functional surfaces for packaging, building, renewable energy and automotive markets, said Constellium.
Pusher furnaces
The firm said the money would be spent on revamping 2 pusher furnaces at Singen “to improve performance and operating flexibility”.
A pusher furnace – where a product is pushed through a furnace via a rolling/pushing mechanism – is used to heat semi-finished aluminium products prior to further processing.
Constellium will spend the remaining €11m on a high productivity press line at Singen to produce extruded profiles for its automotive business.
“These significant investments represent a long-term commitment to consolidate our leading positions in core markets,” the company’s ceo, Christel Bories, said.
He added: “Modernising our plants to continuously improve productivity, quality and energy efficiency, and increase value for our customers in the long-run remain Constellium’s absolute priority.”
Alcan Engineered Products was renamed Constellium in 2011, after private equity firm Apollo acquired a 51 per cent stake in the firm and peer Fonds Stratégique d’Investissement (FSI) acquired 10 per cent, while Rio Tinto retained a 39 per cent share.
