Constellium N.V. has finalized a €15-million (US$20-million) investment in its site located in Decin, Czech Republic, to further its strategy of boosting production capacity of high-volume specialty alloy products to supply primarily the European automotive market.

The investment includes a new casthouse and extrusion line that will increase production of hard alloys extrusions by almost 10,000 tons per year.

This investment strengthens Constellium’s position as a leader in the production of highly-specialized hard-alloy bars and tubes. Constellium’s products are supplied in various tailored alloy dimensions and shapes. Their high-tolerance properties and quality enable in particular high-speed machinability. The extrusion line is now running at full capacity in order to meet growing demand for ESP and ABS aluminium blocks, parts for automatic gear boxes and car suspensions among others.

Constellium’s investment in the plant in Decin is a critical part of our strategy to fully capitalize on the growing demand for aluminium automotive structures and components that is mainly driven by light-weighting.

This investment also paves the way for a new recycling facility at the Decin site, which will enable Constellium to deploy its innovative recycling technology. The facility will process and recycle aluminium scrap from Constellium’s key automotive customers in Europe. A key advantage of aluminium is that it is infinitely recyclable and retains all of its original properties throughout the recycling process. These properties make aluminium an environmentally responsible and economical choice