Aleris Expands Capacity to Produce Wide Aluminum Sheet for Automotive Applications

BEACHWOOD, Ohio, May 9, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Aleris today announced that it will invest $70 million to install a new cold rolling mill in its Duffel, Belgium facility in order to significantly increase its capacity to produce wide automotive-body sheet. Product to be produced by the Duffel plant will be the widest currently available in the industry.

"We are making this investment to meet the increasing demand for aluminum auto-body sheet and support our customers as they address increasingly challenging emissions and fuel efficiency requirements," said Roeland Baan, Aleris executive vice president and chief executive officer, Europe and Asia. "This new cold mill, together with our existing capacity, will give us the flexibility to produce sheet ranging up to 2200 mm. With the expanded capacity, we are well positioned to meet a complete range of customer needs globally."

Customer shipments of existing products are not expected to be affected by construction of the new cold mill in Duffel. The company expects to begin customer shipments of the wide sheet by the end of 2012.

About Aleris

Aleris is a privately-held, global leader in aluminum rolled products and extrusions, aluminum recycling and specification alloy production. Headquartered in Beachwood, Ohio, the company operates more than 40 production facilities in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.aleris.com.

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