Alcoa to expand North American automotive sheet capacity

Alcoa, a producer of primary and fabricated aluminum, will invest $275 million over the next three years to expand and convert capacity at its rolling mill in Alcoa, Tenn., to meet growing demand for light, durable, and recyclable aluminum sheet for automotive production.

"More and more auto producers are turning to aluminum to increase the fuel efficiency and quality of their vehicles," said Alcoa Chairman and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld. "We anticipate a quadrupling of auto sheet volume by 2015 and a tenfold increase by 2025."

The expansion will add 200 full-time jobs upon completion. More than 400 jobs will be created during the construction phase of the expansion. The project will convert some of the plant’s can sheet capacity to high-strength automotive aluminum capacity, as well as install incremental automotive capacity.