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Magna Opens Aluminum Casting Plant in Alabama
Magna International Inc.’s Kamtek unit has opened a 150,000-sq-ft aluminum casting facility at its Birmingham, Ala., complex.
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Magna International Inc.’s Kamtek unit has opened a 150,000-sq-ft aluminum casting facility at its Birmingham, Ala., complex.
The $60 million casting plant initially will produce aluminum front shock towers for an unnamed automaker. Kamtek currently supplies parts for Mercedes, Nissan and Volkswagen from the Birmingham campus.
The new facility will use Kamtek’s high-pressure aluminum casting process that enables the production of a one-piece structure. This compare with steel assemblies that require as many as 12 welded stampings, according to Kamtek. Magna says the one-piece aluminum design can cut weight by as much as 45%, while maintaining structural integrity and other performance metrics.
The Birmingham facility was opened in 1997 by Japan’s Ogihara Corp., which Kamtek acquired in 2006. Kamtek has made several investments to enlarge the operations since then. The latest expansion, which is part of a $530 million investment Kamtek announced in 2015, originally was to be completed last summer.
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