NEW YORK, Oct 22 (Reuters) – U.S. aluminum company Alcoa Inc
has formed a joint venture with Russia’s VSMPO-Avisma
Corp, the world’s No. 1 titanium producer, to develop
high-end aerospace products to feed growing demand from the
sector, Alcoa said on Tuesday.
The two firms will collaborate on manufacturing
high-specification products, such as landing gear and forged
wing components, at Alcoa’s Samara facility in Russia, where it
makes flat-rolled products, forgings and hard alloy extrusions.
Few other details were available, although a statement said
the new venture is expected to be operational in 2016.
The news comes as Alcoa shifts its focus downstream to
value-added aluminum products, aimed at the aerospace and
automotive sectors, as it cuts its exposure to weak primary
metal prices.
In the Samara venture, VSMPO will increase output and gain
access to forging equipment, marking the company’s continued
shift towards value-added products, general director Mikhail
Voevodin said in the statement.
Alcoa has previously projected the aerospace market will
grow by 9 percent to 10 percent this year. While the outlook for
aerospace industry growth is encouraging, the race to produce
high-strength, lightweight and low-cost materials in planes has
accelerated and the global aluminum industry is facing intense
competition from new carbon composites in aerospace.
The move comes after Alcoa expanded its aluminum lithium
capacity in the United Kingdom earlier this year. The firm is
also building a new U.S. facility in Indiana to produce 20,000
tonnes per year of aluminum lithium.
Aluminum lithium alloy is used in forgings, sheet and plate
applications in airplane wings and fuselage components. Alcoa
says it is more fuel efficient and lower-cost than carbon
composites.
The Indiana facility is expected to come onstream by the end
of next year.
