In the context of the strengthening of global environmental restrictions, automobile manufacturers have accelerated the trend of lightening the car body. Aluminum panel materials for automobiles will have a great demand in the future.
Tokyo May 10 news, Kobe Steel Ltd said on Wednesday that it will spend about 55 billion yen ($ 484 million) to expand the aluminum business.
Kobe Steel signed an agreement with Novelis to pay $ 315 million for a 50% stake in an aluminum smelter in Ulsan, South Korea. The South Korean smelter will produce 300,000 tons of cold-rolled aluminum annually. Half of the product will be owned by Kobe Steel. The semi-finished aluminum products will be shipped to Japan and China for final processing and sold to auto parts manufacturers.
In addition, Kobe Steel will invest 20 billion yen to add a new production line at the Moka aluminum smelter north of Tokyo to produce automotive panel materials. The new production line will increase the annual production capacity of the Moka project by 100,000 tons.