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ALUMINIUM RoLLINg INDUSTRY
Kobe Steel to set up factory in China for aluminium sheet
Kobe Steel, Ltd is to establish a company
in the Xiqing Economic­Technological
Development Area in Tianjin, China, to
produce aluminium sheet for automotive
body panels. The new company –
Kobelco Automotive Aluminum Rolled
Products (China) – will be the first Japanese
operation to produce this kind of
product in China. Kobe Steel will supply
master coils from its Moka Plant in Tochigi
Prefecture, Japan. The coils will then
undergo annealing followed by surface
treatment and other finishing processes
by Kobelco Automotive.
The new company will be established in early
2014. It will have a production capacity of
100,000 tonnes a year. Total investment will
amount to 1.15 billion yuan (about 19bn yen,
or USD 195m). The plant is expected to start
production in 2016, and will employ about
140 people when it goes into full operation.
Kobe Steel began supplying aluminium
sheet for automotive body panels to Japanese
automakers in the 1980s. It has built up a
strong supply performance history mainly on
the Japanese market, with a market share now
of over 50 percent. In addition to developing
alloys and production technologies, including
heat treatment, the company provides technical
solutions on shape design and forming suitable
for aluminium applications. Kobe Steel
has received high acclaim not only from Japanese
carmakers, but also from European and
US carmakers.
Kobe Steel currently supplies the Chinese
market from its Moka Plant. However, carmakers’
strong requests for a local source of
automotive aluminium sheet led to the decision
to set up a factory in China.
China is the world’s largest automobile
market. In the next ten years, car production
is expected to increase by about 50 percent.
Stricter fuel efficiency regulations in China
aim to control the serious air pollution problem.
As developing lighter vehicles is strongly
required, demand for aluminium sheet is anticipated
to increase tremendously in China in
the coming years.
Kobe Steel’s Aluminium & Copper business
is focusing on the automotive sector, which
is increasing the use of aluminium to make
lighter cars. In June, the company entered
into a cooperation agreement with Germany’s
Hydro Aluminium Rolled Products GmbH for
aluminium sheet technologies for automotive
body panels. Following this, Kobe Steel’s plan
Aerial view of the Moka Plant
to establish a base in China will strengthen its
technical network for the growing demand for
this kind of product.
For aluminium forgings used in automotive
suspensions, the company formed Kobe
Aluminum Automotive Products in the United
States already ten years ago. Kobe Steel subsequently
formed Kobe Aluminum Automotive
Products (China) in September 2010 to
make the same products in China. Kobe Steel
now has a production network covering three
Aluminium coils at the Moka Plant
countries – Japan, the US and China – for this
product.
For extrusions and fabricated products,
including bumper reinforcement parts, Kobe
Steel and Sapa entered into a technical transfer
agreement for Kobe Steel to supply Sapa
with production technology for high-end aluminium
extrusions. In this way, Kobe Steel is
building a global supply network for its extrusions
through Sapa’s worldwide locations. n
© Kobe Steel
36 ALUMINIUM · 11/2013