Atlanta-based aluminum giant Novelis Inc. will invest about $300 million in one of its Brazilian factories to meet growing demand for its products in South America.
The largest capital investment in Novelis’s five-year history will boost aluminum sheet production by more than 50 percent at the facility in Pindamonhangaba, a city between Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in southeastern Brazil.
The production increase is largely a response to surging demand for aluminum beverage cans as rising incomes stimulate consumer demand for canned drinks, said Phil Martens, Novelis’ president and chief operating officer.
“Many of our South American customers are accelerating their investments in can-making plants, and our expansion at Pindamonhangaba will allow us to stay ahead of that demand,” Mr. Martens said in a news release. In 2009, Brazilian aluminum can manufacturers increased daily production by 40.5 million cans over the previous year, Novelis said.
Novelis operates four recycling and manufacturing plants and nine hydroelectric facilities throughout Brazil.
The company is a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries Ltd., a large aluminum producer based in Mumbai, India.
