Aluminum
Kloeckner, SDI collaborate on aluminum plant in Mississippi
Written by Stephanie Ritenbaugh
November 14, 2024
Kloeckner Metals plans to build an aluminum flat-rolled processing facility on the campus of Aluminum Dynamics LLC (ADL) in Columbus, Miss.
The investment is aimed at growing Kloeckner’s automotive and industrial segment in the US and Mexico. It also will support the ongoing partnership between Kloeckner and ADL’s parent company, Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI).
The 200,000-square-foot facility has an annual capacity of up to 250,000 tons that can process ADL’s aluminum products.
Kloeckner, with 55 locations in the US and Mexico, is the US subsidiary of the Duisburg, Germany-based service center group, Klöckner & Co.
The company said the move is meant to broaden its toll processing portfolio to benefit from profitable, higher value-added business and help shield it from steel price volatility.
Kloeckner has made several recent acquisitions aimed at expanding in North America. In August 2023, Kloeckner bought National Material of Mexico, an independent service center and materials supplier serving automotive and industrial end markets, for $340 million. In November 2023, it bought fabricator Industrial Manufacturing Services for an undisclosed price.
“We will benefit from the future growth in the automotive and industrial sector in the US and Mexico, increase our focus on our higher value-added product and services portfolio, and further insulate Klöckner & Co from market price volatility,” Guido Kerkhoff, CEO of Klöckner, said in a statement.
Ramp-up of the new plant is planned for Q4’26. It has room to add processing services to meet the growing market demand for laser blanking, the company noted.
SDI, one of the largest domestic steel producers and metals recyclers in North America, has been making more investments in aluminum as of late.
In October, the Fort Wayne, Ind.-based steelmaker said it would officially become a producer of flat-rolled aluminum products in 2025, with its new facility in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, starting slab production in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, at its greenfield rolling operations in Columbus, Miss., SDI plans to commission the casthouse in Q1’25 and two downstream lines in Q2’25. Commercial shipments at the Aluminum Dynamics facility are expected to begin in mid-2025. The company expects the rolling mill to reach 75% of its 650,000-metric-ton-per-year capacity by the end of 2026.
Stephanie Ritenbaugh
Read more from Stephanie RitenbaughLatest in Aluminum
Tariff talks define Alcoa’s Q1
Operational results painted a picture of a company that produced more aluminum but shipped less of it as a result of tariffs and timing mismatches.
Wittbecker: What comes after ‘Liberation Day’?
A week after "Liberation Day," the global economy got a 90-day “stay of execution.” The Trump administration hit the pause button on many of its broad tariff measures, with the exception of China.
The Value Trap: USMCA compliance paradoxes
A counterintuitive aspect of the 25% tariffs on autos is these percentages are measured in value, not by weight or part count. That means a few costly imported parts can outweigh dozens of cheaper local ones – and vice versa.
Aluminum takeaways after ‘Liberation Day’
If you import aluminum products, here’s where things stand after President Trump's "Liberation Day."
Tariffs are easy to announce, but hard to track
Announcing tariffs is easy. Implementing them at the border? That’s a whole different ball game.