By NOEL MURPHY
ALCOA and Ford have struck a ground-breaking deal to make aluminium cars in the US while the companies’ Geelong plants face imminent closure.
Ford has unveiled a new all-aluminium F-150, the world’s top-selling truck, at the Detroit Auto Show. The vehicle is more than 300kg lighter than its previous steel design and aimed squarely at enhanced fuel efficiency.
Alcoa, in the meantime, is spending up $US575 million to expand production plants in Iowa and Tennessee to meet demand under long-term auto contracts.
US media reports also point to Alcoa’s competitor, Novelis, commissioning two new automotive sheet lines in New York and China.
“We’re about to see aluminium make that step into mass market vehicles,” Alcoa’s Randall Scheps, was reported saying by the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.
“This is the tip of the iceberg. We can certainly say that every year is going to be big for aluminium for the foreseeable future.”
The Wall Street Journal reported this week that Ford planned to eventually cut the weight of all its new vehicle platforms by about 100 to 300kg.
“No-one could be more delighted about Ford’s bold conversion than Alcoa,” the WSJ reported.
In Geelong, the prospects for Alcoa and Ford appear markedly different, with Alcoa widely tipped to close its Point Henry plant, sacking hundreds and cutting almost a quarter billion dollars from the regional economy.
Ford is set to close manufacturing operations at its North Geelong plant in 2016, reflecting a serious decline in Australian car-making operations with Toyota and Holden plant closures.
Alcoa’s fortunes have been slugged by a high Australian dollar, increased overseas competition and poor aluminium prices.
A $40 million bailout by the Federal Government last year ensured Point Henry’s survival until mid-2014 but widespread reports in the past week have said Alcoa is no longer pursuing any further government assistance, while a review due for release at the end of March is expected to recommend closure.
“The US expansions do not have any ramifications for Alcoa in Australia – they are different markets,” Alcoa spokesperson Nichola Holgate said.
“We are not going to speculate about Point Henry.”
Ford did not respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, the EPA told the Independent that the closure of any EPA licensed site was “determined in the closing stages of a company’s operations at a site, that they remain vigilant in addressing and managing their risk to the environment”.
