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Trimet expands production in France

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France’s Minister of Economic Affairs Macron visits aluminum smelter in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne

By commissioning additional electrolytic furnaces, Trimet has expanded the production capacity of its aluminum smelter in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. The medium-sized family enterprise will invest about 100 million euros in expanding its production sites in France over the next three years.

On Saturday, September 6, 2014, the French Minister of Economic Affairs, Emmanuel Macron, visited Trimet’s aluminum smelter in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne. At a commissioning ceremony with the full staff, Trimet put further electrolytic furnaces into operation for the aluminum production. Together with Trimet’s owner, Heinz-Peter Schlüter, the Minister gave the starting signal for production line F, which had been decommissioned in 2009 and was repaired over the past few months in an elaborate process. By resuming operation of the decommissioned facilities, the production capacity will be increased over the next few months from 90,000 tons to approximately 145,000 tons annually. “I am very proud that Saint-Jean will soon be producing this high-quality and sustainable material at full speed. We have taken an important step today on the path to full capacity. In its history of more than a century, this production site has always been at the forefront of technological development. Today, we are sending out a clear  ignal that this will also continue to be the case in the future,” said Dr. Martin Iffert, CEO of Trimet Aluminium SE and President of Trimet France SAS.

The commissioning of production line F is part of a comprehensive investment program, which amounts to nearly 100 million euros over the next three years. With the planned expansion of foundry plants, Trimet plans to restore full production capacity to the location in the Savoy Alps, which it acquired nine months ago, thereby creating new jobs.

Trimet had taken over the aluminum smelter in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne from Rio Tinto Alcan in December 2013, together with its partner location in Castelsarrasin, with around 500 employees. It consistently orients production on customized material solutions for the automotive industry and the energy sector. The French energy provider EDF holds a minority interest in Trimet France SAS.

Source: Trimet

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