Swiss Based Aluminum Extruder to Install One of the World's Largest Extrusion Presses in Georgia

---

Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Universal Alloy Corporation (Canton, Georgia), a subsidiary of Alu Menziken Group (Menziken, Switzerland) is working fast and furious to finalize details for construction of a new building and relocation and installation of one of the world's largest aluminum extrusion presses. Construction of an estimated 150,000 square foot building and installation of the press and auxiliary equipment systems will take about 18 months to complete.

Universal Alloy currently occupies 110,000 square feet of space on a 20-acre site at 180 Lamar Haley Parkway in Canton, Georgia. The company began construction on the initial building in late 1996 and began operations in September of 1997, producing extruded aluminum bars, rods, and angles used in aircraft frame manufacturing. Universal Alloy now has four extrusion presses, the largest of which is 4,800 tons. The new press will be a 16,000 ton machine, which will make it the largest of its kind in North America and one of the largest worldwide.

The press and associated production line equipment, such as cranes and heat treat furnaces were purchased in a bankruptcy sale from Spectrulite Consortium Incorporated (Madison, Illinois). Spectrulite is selling all of its equipment at its Madison plant, which includes aluminum and magnesium secondary smelting, extrusion, and rolling equipment. Spectrulite is said to be entertaining bids for the magnesium assets, which would keep that operation operating in Madison under different ownership.

The big press would have to be railed to Universal Alloy's plant in Canton. This would require construction of a short rail spur to link the plant to Georgia Northeastern Railroad Company Incorporated's (Marietta, Georgia) rail line, which passes within several hundred yards from the plant.

Since its inception, Universal Alloy had planned to expand manufacturing operations at the 20 acre site from the initial 110,000 square foot building up to 500,000 square foot, but had been waiting for market conditions to improve before moving ahead. It seems that the company is banking on an improvement in the North American aerospace/aircraft manufacturing market by late 2004 or early 2005, which is when the new press will start-up. The new, larger press will open up new markets for the company, allowing Universal Alloy to make larger and longer aircraft products, such as wing sections.