Jan. 15, 2014—Alcoa announced Tuesday that it has completed a $300 million expansion at its Davenport, Iowa, facility dedicated to supplying aluminum sheet products to the automotive industry.
It comes off the back of multiple announcements from the 2014 North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit that many new vehicles will be made with more aluminum.
“2014 marks the beginning of dramatic growth for aluminum in the auto sector,” said Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa chairman and CEO. “Automakers are increasingly choosing aluminum as a cost-effective way to improve the performance, safety, durability, and fuel efficiency of their vehicles. Our project in Iowa is the first of three capacity expansions we have underway to meet this growing demand.”
In addition to its expansion in Iowa, Alcoa is adding automotive capacity in Alcoa, Tenn., which is scheduled to be completed in 2015. Expansions will also be made to its joint venture rolling mill in Saudi Arabia by the end of 2014. According to a press release_notes, Alcoa is investing approximately $670 million in the three expansions.
The Iowa expansion is expected to create 150 full-time jobs, and create a further 150 jobs during the construction phase.
