New Aluminum Production Facility in Kentucky

A joint venture company has plans to build a new aluminum production facility in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The joint venture is based on Europe-based Constellium N.V. and Japan-based UACJ Corp. Kentucky Gov says the $150-million plant will manufacture aluminum sheet for the automotive industry and is expected to create 80 new jobs. The joint venture is subject to regulatory approval.

 

"This is a huge investment in Kentucky—one that further solidifies our role as a key player in the auto industry," says Beshear, officail of  Kentucky Government. "It's also exciting to see companies from two different continents jointly choose Kentucky as the place to manufacture an innovative product. I want to thank both 

 

Constellium and UACJ for putting more Kentuckians back to work, and I look forward to seeing this partnership's impact on vehicles around the world."

 

Constellium, a European aluminum company, and UACJ, a Japanese aluminum company, will supply aluminum coils that will be treated and processed at the Bowling Green plant.

 

Construction on a 225,000-square-foot aluminum production facility is expected to start this summer and is being designed to allow for future expansion.

 

Tri-Arrows Aluminium, headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, will be one of the key suppliers of cold rolled aluminium coils to the new partnership. Tri-Arrows, which is a subsidiary of UACJ, manufactures its base aluminum coils at its joint-venture operating mill at Logan Aluminum Inc. in Russellville, Kentucky.

 

"This is a great opportunity for UACJ and Tri-Arrows to participate in this dynamic growth segment for aluminum along with our partners at Constellium," says Patrick Franc, president and CEO of Tri-Arrows Aluminum Inc. "We are also very pleased with the choice of Bowling Green, which is in close proximity to the Logan rolling mill."

 

To encourage the investment and job growth in Kentucky's Warren County, the Kentucky Economic Development Finance Authority (KEDFA) preliminarily has approved tax incentives up to $4.5 million through the Kentucky Business Investment program. The performance-based incentive allows a company to keep a portion of its investment over the term of the agreement through corporate income tax credits and wage assessments by meeting job and investment targets.

 

KEDFA also approved tax benefits of up to $1.5 million through the Kentucky Enterprise Initiative Act, which allows approved companies to recoup Kentucky sales and use tax on construction costs, building fixtures, equipment used in research and development and electronic processing equipment.