Driving Modern Manufacturing

The U.S. aluminum industry directly employs more than 162,000 workers and supports hundreds of thousands of additional jobs in nearly every state. This workforce helps innovators make good products great and great products even better by using high quality, sustainable aluminum -- the metal of choice for industries ranging from automotive to aerospace to packaging to building & construction. Sustained demand growth -- and anticipated continued growth moving forward, particularly in the automotive sector -- has led to some significant investment announcements from the industry over the past several years. Trade enforcement efforts targeting unfairly subsidized Chinese imports in the aluminum foil and common alloy aluminum sheet markets have also driven investment. 

Since 2013, Aluminum Association member companies have announced or completed U.S. plant expansion investment totaling more than $3 billion, creating thousands of American manufacturing jobs:

• In February 2019, Arconic announced a $100 million investment to expand its hot mill capability and add downstream equipment capabilities to manufacture industrial and automotive aluminum products in its Tennessee Operations facility near Knoxville, TN. The investment is expected to create 70 new jobs and will include increased production of common alloy aluminum sheet, which was the subject of a successful targeted trade enforcement effort in 2018.

• In October 2018, Hydro announced a $100 million investment to its manufacturing facility in Cressona, Pennsylvania. The project will fund a new 96,000 square foot structure that will house equipment dedicated to producing aluminum for the automotive market, upgrade existing facilities’ infrastructure and modernize equipment. Hydro estimates the improvements will yield 60 family-sustaining jobs over the next three years in addition to retaining an additional 1,307 positions.
• In October 2018, Weber Metals unveiled a $180 million investment in a 60,000 ton forging press -- the world's largest private investment in aerospace metal forging. This investment will add about 400 jobs at Weber.
• In June of 2018, JW Aluminum announced a $255 million expansion of its Goose Creek, SC campus to expand the production of continuous cast sheet, creating 50 new jobs. In September of 2018, JW announced an additional $33 million investment to optimize aluminum foil production quipment.   
• In May 2018, Novelis broke ground on a $300 million automotive aluminum sheet manufacturing facility in Guthrie, Kentucky. The greenfield facility, with an annual nameplate capacity of 200,000 metric tons, will include heat treatment and pre-treatment lines, which prepare aluminum for use in vehicle parts such as body-in-white, hoods, doors, lift gates and fenders. The company expects to create approximately 125 jobs at the new facility, which is slated to open in 2020.
• In May 2018, Granges announced a $26 million investment to restart production of light guage aluminum foil at its facility in Newport, AR. The announcement followed the successful resolution of an anti-dumping and countervailing duty case in the aluminum foil market.
• In November 2017, Aleris opened a $400 million automotive sheet production facility in Lewisport, KY to meet significant growth in North American automotive demand as the industry pursues broader aluminum use for the production of lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles. This expansion brought more than 150 jobs (and counting) to the community.
• In October 2017, Tri-Arrows Aluminum opened a $175 million expansion of its cold rolling and ingot casting facilities at the Logan Aluminum plant in Russellville, KY. At the same time, the firm broke ground on a new $240 million project to produce aluminum sheet for the automotive industry. The investments will bring more than 200 new jobs to the region.
• In September 2017, Granges announed a $110 million investment to expand aluminum foil production at its facility in Huntingdon, TN, creating 85 permanent full-time jobs. The announcement followed a preliminary determination in an antidumping and countervailing duty case targeting unfairly subsidized imports of aluminum foil from China.
• In July 2017, Alcoa announced a $35 million partial restart of 3 of 5 idled potlines at its smelter in Warrick, IN to supply its onsite rolling mill and more fully use an integrated site.    
• In May 2017, Constellium announced the grand opening of its new plant in White, GA, dedicated to the production of advanced aluminium automotive structural components and crash management systems. The 135,000 sq. ft. facility is strategically located to supply automakers in the Southeast U.S. and may be expanded to 220,000 sq. ft. to meet customers’ supply needs in the future. Constellium expects to have 150 employees in White, Georgia, by 2019.
• In April 2017, Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products announced a $53 million expansion of a facility in Bowling Green, KY to meet the rising domestic demand for aluminum forged suspension products. Once complete, the full Bowling Green facility was expected to support around 600 jobs.
• In September 2016, Constellium and Tri-Arrows opened a new plant in Bowling Green, KY as part of a $150 million joint venture. The investment created 80 full-time positions.
• In August 2016, Kobelco Aluminum Products & Extrusions Inc. broke ground on a new aluminum extrusion facility to support the automotive market. The plant in Bowling Green, KY represents an investment of $47 million and is expected to create 110 jobs by 2019.
• In November 2015, Kobe Steel, Ltd. announced that its U.S. joint venture, Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products (KAAP), will invest $57 million to expand its North American production facility, creating more than 100 jobs.
• In September 2015, Arconic completed a $300 million expansion of its facility in Alcoa, TN creating 200 new full-time jobs.
• In April 2015, Constellium completed a $40 million expansion of its automotive structures plant in Van Buren, Michigan. The expansion more than doubled manufacturing capacity at the facility and enhanced advanced prototyping and development capabilities for customers in North America.
• In January 2014, Arconic completed a $300 million expansion of its Davenport, IA facility, which created 150 new full-time jobs and an additional 150 jobs during the construction phase. In November of 2014, the company announced an additional $190 million investment at the same facility to expand its product offerings in the aerospace and industrial markets.  
• In the fall and winter of 2013, Novelis announced $320 million in investment to expand its plant in Oswego, NY creating nearly 200 permanent jobs overall.

Many of these investments are designed to capture anticipated growth in the use of aluminum in the automotive market in the coming years as carmakers strive to produce lighter, safer more fuel-efficient vehicles. Ongoing announcements by Ford and others have underscored the increasing use of aluminum in light vehicles, which is expected to grow dramatically over the next decade. These expansions are expected to add hundreds of thousands of tons of aluminum auto sheet capacity right here in the U.S.

To learn how the aluminum industry creates jobs in your state click here.