Alcoa China Rolled Products has 3 rolling facilities, employing 1450 people in China. With current and planned annual production of greater than 275,000 MT by 2010, Alcoa has been the largest foil producer and exporter in China and will become a leader in brazing sheet, lithographic sheet, commercial transportation heavy gauge sheet and plate, can body stock, and common alloy sheet and plate.
Between 1993 and 2006, Alcoa invested RMB 7.2 billion in China's aluminum industry, making it the largest foreign investor in the industry. The country's aluminum consumption is expected to grow more than 10% per annum over the next three years, and this growth with our planned investment in China will rank us as one of the country's 10 largest foreign investors overall within the next 10 years.
Alcoa aspires to be the market leader in the high end flat rolled products in China. Apart from being a major player in China's foil segment with operations in Shanghai and Qinhuangdao, we acquired a hot mill facility last year in Kunshan which is producing a very special clad product (brazing sheet) for the heat exchanger industry. In addition, we are building a 210 KT sheet facility adjacent to our foil mill in Qinhuangdao, which will produce high grade products including can sheet, lithographic sheet and transportation sheet. Production will begin in May 2008.
Alcoa in China
Alcoa's presence in China began in 1993 with the creation of the Alcoa Asia Ltd. representative office in Beijing. Since then, Alcoa has established 17 operating locations that provide innovative solutions for customers in all major markets. Products produced include foil, fasteners, automotive components, construction products, plastic closures, and decorative sheet.
Alcoa is in the midst of a major expansion of its Bohai rolling mill in Qinhuangdao, China, where the Company is investing approximately $300 million in a technologically advanced hot rolling mill and related equipment. Alcoa anticipates having the mill commissioned in 2008, with output growing to more than 220,000 metric tons per year (mtpy).