Rio Tinto Aluminum announced plans to replace its existing small form foundry ingot casting unit in Dunkerque, France. The €5 million investment is aimed at strengthening the company’s value in terms of products and services for its customers.
The Dunkerque facility will install a state-of-the-art production unit that will raise its capacity to 50,000 tons of foundry alloys per year as of 2017. With the latest degasing, filtering, and packaging technology, the new facility will be capable of serving the most demanding foundry alloys specifications. Rio Tinto Aluminum believes this first step investment illustrates commitment to sustain its supply of foundry ingots to customers in the long term, while bolstering its position as a key quality supplier to the growing automotive market.
“We stay committed to working with our customers and our stakeholders, in delivering a responsible future through quality products and services,” wrote Laure Baratgin, regional VAP sales director, EMEA, Rio Tinto Aluminum. “These are exciting times for the automotive industries and we are thrilled to expand our offer of quality and services to our customers with this investment. Through this investment, Rio Tinto Aluminium Dunkerque, close to Northern Europe customers, is demonstrating again its commitment to the market.”
Baratgin also stated that the Dunkerque facility is able to provide a low CO2 footprint, under the RenewAl™ brand; an optimal local supply chain; and technical assistance and access to an R&D center to develop alloys. As a founding member of the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, the company is able to provide environmetnally and socially conscious production.
The Dunkerque aluminium smelter in northern France came on-stream in 1991. The smelter has a capacity of 270,000 tonnes of aluminium per year and is powered by nuclear energy supplied by EDF.