Heating up

Recycling Today last published its list and map of North American secondary aluminum producers in 2018. Much has changed since that time, with some facilities changing hands and others closing. Capacity expansions and greenfield projects also have been announced.

New facilities

We’ve seen unprecedented investments in secondary aluminum production, particularly in the United States, in recent years. A number of these facilities, which have not been included on this year’s list, are readying to open later this year or next. Those sites include Pure Aluminum in Michigan as well as the Aluminum Dynamics’ Arizona slab production plant. Kentucky Aluminum Processors, a joint venture between Tri-Arrows Aluminum and Tennessee Aluminum Processors, also has broken ground in Russellville, Kentucky, and MMX Aluminum, a joint venture between MetalX of Indiana and Manna Capital Partners, has selected Defiance, Ohio, for the aluminum slab production facility it plans to construct. Atlanta-based Novelis also plans to begin producing aluminum coil at its new integrated mill in Bay Minette, Alabama, in 2026, which will add 600,000 tons of annual finished aluminum goods capacity, with two-thirds of the coil produced at the site destined for the can market and the remainder going to automotive, construction and some niche markets.

Additional Aluminum Dynamics facilities that have begun ramping up operations in time to make this year’s list are the Columbus, Mississippi, rolling mill, which will produce 650,000 tons of finished products for the beverage packaging, automotive and common alloy industrial sectors, and the company’s Mexico slab production facility.

In addition to Novelis’ investment in Bay Minette, it has added recycling capacity in Guthrie, Kentucky, that enables it to cast 240,000 tons of sheet ingot per year for its automotive customers. 

EGA Spectro Alloys of Minnesota also is expanding its capabilities and production capacity this year, completing construction on a 90,000-square-foot addition that will house recycled billet and sheet ingot production capacity. (For more on this expansion, see “Bigger, faster, stronger,” the cover story in the May issue of Recycling Today.)

Matalco, a Brampton, Ontario-based secondary aluminum producer, also has expanded in recent years, acquiring Ohio Valley Aluminum Co. LLC of Shelbyville, Kentucky, and opening anew facility in Franklin, Kentucky, that produces aluminum ingot slabs. Matalco has invested about $65 million in the Franklin facility, which can produce 135,000 tons per year.

Facility closures

Although Matalco has been focused on growth, the company also recently announced the closure of its Canton, Ohio, plant, which it acquired in 2010 out of receivership from Thakar Aluminum.

“On April 8, Matalco made the difficult decision to close its Canton, Ohio, site to optimize our portfolio of aluminum remelting and casting facilities,” a statement from Matalco President Tom Horter says.

Because the plant is expected to close this summer, we did not include it on this year’s list.

Also removed from this year’s list because of a pending closure is the Novelis rolling mill at 1801 Reymet Road in Richmond, Virginia. The site, which Novelis acquired from Aleris in 2020, uses pellet casting technology to produce aluminum rolled sheet for the building and construction industry, according to the Novelis website.

The company has cited a consolidation of its U.S. operations for the closure, saying, “As part of Novelis’ long-term growth strategy, we have an opportunity to simplify our operations and streamline our portfolio.”

As new production capacity comes online, secondary aluminum producers could take additional steps to remain competitive by investing in their operations or rationalizing capacity, which likely will be revealed when we next produce this list.

The author is editorial director of Recycling Today Media Group and can be contacted at dtoto@gie.net.