Alcoa Opens Second Plant in China to Produce Plastic Closures for Beverage Industry

07-13-2004: Alcoa announced today that its Closure Systems International (CSI) business completed construction of a new plant in Hangzhou, China, south of Shanghai. The new 8,125 square meter plant produces plastic closures primarily for export to beverage producers in Japan. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held recently with local dignitaries, customers and suppliers. Alcoa CSI also has a plant in Tianjin.

Commercial production has begun on two lines to manufacture AS-Lok (a linerless closure for aseptically filled bottles) and PS-Lok II (a linerless closure for hot filled bottles), with customer shipments expected to start in mid-July. Volume at the facility will be 800 million closures a year. The Hangzhou plant has the capability to expand to eight lines.

"Construction of the plant began last January and was completed on time and safely," said Plant Manager Haruyuki Fujiwara. The Hangzhou plant employs 110 people.

Alcoa CSI locations in the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, UK, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Russia, Bahrain, Nepal, China, Korea, Japan and Philippines manufacture plastic closures utilizing the patented Alcoa (H-C) compression molding process. Alcoa CSI also has injection molding capacity serving the food and personal care industries. In addition, the business manufactures aluminum closures in Europe and Japan to complement its plastic product offerings to the local beverage industry. In its 27 locations and offices worldwide, Alcoa CSI employs nearly 3,000 persons. The company is guided by principles of customer satisfaction and total quality manufacturing - all tied to specific customer and consumer needs.