Kobe Steel Ltd says it will spend about 55 billion yen ($ 484 million) to buy 50 percent of a plant in South Korea and build a new facility in Japan to meet growing demand from auto manufacturers.
Japanese aluminum makers such as UACJ Corp and Kobe Steel are stepping up global plans to expand market share as automakers increasingly turn to light metal to meet tighter environmental regulations.
Under the agreement with Novelis, Indian aluminum producer Hindalco Industries Ltd and Kobe Steel will pay $ 315 million to acquire Novelis' 50 percent stake in an existing aluminum smelter in Ulsan, South Korea.
The plant has an annual capacity of 300,000 tonnes of cold rolled aluminum and Kobe Steel will receive half of these semi-finished products, which it will ship to factories in Japan and China for finishing and sell to auto parts manufacturers. Novelis and Kobe Steel plan to close the deal in September.
Kobe Steel will also spend 20 billion yen to build additional production lines at its Moka aluminum smelter, north of Tokyo, to make material for auto panels. The new lines will add 100,000 tons of production capacity per year.
Japan's Kobe Steel will spend $ 484 million on expanding aluminum business
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Azovpromstal® 11 May 2017 г. 10:40 |
