The US President Donald Trump imposed a 10% duty on aluminum and 25% on steel in March 2018. As a result, Japan aluminum makers increased their output in the US. The additional tariffs on aluminum imports kept Chinese aluminum steel out of the US market.
Kobe Steel will invest 5 billion yen to increase its monthly production capacity to double up its quantity which will reach 1,000 tons at its Kentucky plant. This Kentucky mill produce aluminum parts. The mill's target markets were towards car bumpers and other automotive applications, and it might also plan to start a new plant to produce aluminum sheet for auto bodies.
In addition, UACJ Corporation has spent 18 billion yen in its Kentucky plant to boost up its output of intermediate parts.
Aluminum will be widely applied in auto parts and chassis to reduce weight and improve fuel efficiency. Therefore, the aluminum steel demand will grow further more.
As the US government has granted about 80% of exemption requests for Japanese aluminum products, Kobe Steel and UACJ were both trying to increase their aluminum steel productions.
Japanese aluminum manufacturers increase output in US' plants
28 Mar 2019 15:44 reported by Ivy Wei
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