Aleris International Closes California Rolled Aluminum Plant

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas). Leading common-alloy aluminum sheet manufacturer Commonwealth Aluminum Corporation, a subsidiary of Aleris International, Incorporated (NYSE:ARS) (Beechwood, Ohio), has decided to permanently close and dismantle its aluminum rolling mill and coil coating plant in Carson, California.

Production at the plant ceased at the beginning of the year, and a skeleton crew remains to ship out the remaining inventory. Production will be completely shutdown within five months. Employment at the mill has been reduced from 200 workers to 25. The majority of the plant’s machinery, including aluminum recycle melt shop, continuous casting, rolling, and coating line will be dismantled and relocated to sister rolled products manufacturing plants in Lewisport, Kentucky and Uhrichsville, Ohio, and the rest will be sold. Aleris also plans to sell this facility, which sits on 22 acres of land. The company is waiting for approval from the Los Angeles Fire Department to begin the dismantlement.

Aleris reported the closure resulted in restructuring charges related to asset impairments, employee termination benefits and other costs ranging of $25 million in the fourth quarter of 2005 and $3 million to $5 million in 2006.

Aleris international, Incorporated is one of the world’s largest recyclers of aluminum and zinc, and one of North America’s leading manufacturers of common-alloy sheet from recycled aluminum. The company operates 33 production plants in the U.S., Brazil, Germany, Mexico, and Wales, and employs approximately 4,000 employees.

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