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With the commissioning of the world's strongest hot rolling mill for aluminium at Koblenz, Germany at the start of 2008 Aleris Aluminum is able to supply new and heavier plate products to the transport industry of which aerospace take 30% of the mill's output.
Aleris Aluminum Koblenz GmbH, the world's third- largest supplier of aluminium products for the aerospace industry and a major provider of other tailored aluminium semi-finished products, has set the stage for its successful future in the global market with its new hot mill. Officially opened in January, the 1600 (4064mm) wide hot rolling mill supplied by SMS Demag is considered to be the strongest of its kind. Having successfully made it through the start-up phase, not only is it relieving existing production bottlenecks, but even significantly increasing capacity. Just as importantly, it enables greater productivity, better quality and, above all, a broader range of more, innovative products.
The 10 January 2008 was a special milestone in the 44-year history of the Koblenz plant, when currently the strongest aluminium rolling mill in the world was officially opened. The ambitious project was completed with a total investment of more than euro50M and replaces its predecessor, a 1480 (3759 mm) mill. This mill - still state-ofthe-art - will take up service in the Aleris sister plant in Duffel, Belgium. It had become necessary to upgrade Koblenz to bolster its predominant position in the global marketplace on a long-term basis. Once the decision had been made in 2006 to invest in the new, more efficient hot rolling mill, the project was realised in near record time without interrupting production and with the former mill still running at full capacity.
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The rolling mill is used primarily for the production of aluminium plate for the aerospace industry; over 30% of the Koblenz plant's output is taken by this sector. Indeed, all the economic experts and those in charge at Aleris expect a good deal more orders from that sector in the future. Air traffic is estimated to more than double by 2026 and the demand for new aeroplanes is put at around 25000 units. Add to that the demand from applications for material for other transport industries and moulds - and toolmaking and the...