Ellwood to Invest in Aluminum Tooling Plate Facility
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. — Ellwood has announced plans for a significant investment in its Ellwood Specialty Steel facility here. The investment will give the plant the ability to produce its own aluminum tooling plate, or ATP, to better meet its customers’ needs.
The new ATP facility will consist of a fully automated sawing, machining, quality control, lamination, storage, and packaging line on the grounds of the current facility. The total amount of the expansion investment was not disclosed.
“This advanced production facility will unleash the true potential of this important product line,” said Judy Shaffer, president of Ellwood Specialty Steel Group. “We expect significant fundamental growth in ATP, driven by diverse markets including auto, medical and semiconductor production. We have been supply constrained to date, but with this integrated ATP production line, we will be fully able to capitalize on that escalating demand.”
Ellwood Aluminum, located in Hubbard, will supply aluminum slab to the new ATP facility. Ellwood Aluminum supplies 2000, 5000, 6000 and 7000-series aluminum cast slab and billet to markets and customers such as aerospace and silicon microchip production.
Its capabilities include casting the world’s largest cross-section slab and lengths unmatched by North American producers.
Because of a vertically integrated raw material supply, the new line will enable Ellwood Specialty Steel to offer improved lead times and flexible service, enabling its customers to reduce uncertainty and inventory levels, according to the company.
Ellwood is preparing for an initial production capacity of over 10 million pounds, with planned potential to expand production capacity further, and is targeting start-up in 2024. ATP is already a successful product in Ellwood Specialty Steel’s distribution portfolio, but ATP production supply is constricted worldwide.
Ellwood Specialty Steel Group, a subsidiary of Ellwood, is a fully integrated producer of tool steels and aluminum for plastic molds, die cast dies, forging dies and other tooling applications.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
