C.S. Aluminum Sets Up New Pickling Line for Aluminum Foils
2012/09/13 | By Steve ChuangTaipei, Sept. 13, 2012 (CENS)--To explore the lucrative market for lithium-ion car battery cathode materials in Taiwan and Japan, C.S. Aluminum Corp., a aluminum flat rolled product manufacturer fully owned by Taiwan's China Steel Corp., the largest steelmaker on the island, has set up a new pickling line for aluminum foils.
C.S. Aluminum invested NT$150 million last year in setting up the new pickling line, which has been on a trial run so far and is scheduled to roll in October.
The company indicated that the new pickling line will be set to turn out aluminum foils with thickness of between 0.02mm and 0.04mm and mostly for use in lithium car batteries, with planned annual output of 6,000 metric tons. Based on a metric ton of aluminum foils selling for over NT$100,000, the line will contribute more than NT$600 million to the company's revenue in the future when fully operational.
Market observers pointed out that establishment of the pickling line will not just enable C.S. Aluminum to penetrate the market for cathode materials for lithium car batteries in Taiwan and Japan to achieve brisk growth, but will also help its parent company, China Steel, to extend its non-ferrous business reach into the green energy sector.
In addition to the investment project, C.S. Aluminum also poured NT$12 billion in building new production lines of cold and hot rolled aluminum sheets and coils at its factory located in Kaohsiung, southern Taiwan, which are scheduled to be completed next year with total annual output of 140,000 metric tons. This will help the manufacturer to double its annual output of the products to 265,000 metric tons to better explore markets for containers, lids and 3C product materials at home and overseas.
In the meantime, the company also launched another investment in factory expansion in China, which costs NT$12.6 billion and will push up annual capacity of cold and hot rolled aluminum sheets and coils by 135,500 metric tons at the factory when completed in the future.