It will help the company meet increasing demand in China and better serve its customers that have operations in China. Increased production is expected to begin in the first half of 2011.
The 28MN press, which is being transferred from Aleris’s operations in Duffel, Belgium, will enable the Tianjin plant to produce nearly three times its current volume of extrusions by 2015.
The Tianjin facility serves customers primarily in the automotive, transportation, mechanical and engineering industries.
Aleris acquired the Tianjin plant in 2007, which was first established in 2000 as a joint venture of Corus Aluminum Vogt and Tianjin Non-Ferrous Metals Group, a Chinese state-owned company.