Aleris Starts Building $300 Million Aluminum Plant in China

Bloomberg Jan 18---Aleris International Inc., an aluminum processor that supplies Boeing Co. and Airbus SAS, started building a $300 million rolling venture in China’s eastern city of Zhenjiang.

The venture, Aleris Dingsheng Aluminum （Zhejiang） Co., will make aluminum plates with a capacity of about 250,000 metric tons a year, Aleris said in a statement issued before a ground- breaking ceremony of the mill in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province.

Beachwood, Ohio-based Aleris, buys aluminum from smelters and scrap yards to produce rolled and extruded metal. Aleris is considering expanding in China to boost revenue and may make acquisitions, Chief Executive Officer Steven Demetriou said in August. It has a plant in the Chinese city of Tianjin to make extrusions for the transport industry.

Shipments to customers from the new plant will start by the fourth quarter of next year, said Aleris, which also supplies Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China, said.

Aleris will own 81 percent of the venture, with local partner Zhenjiang Dingsheng Aluminum Industries Joint-Stock Co., Ltd., holding the balance, Aleris said.