Hydro’s Rackwitz recycling plant near Leipzig in Germany will expand into production of the innovative HyForge forge stock segment. The expansion will significantly increase the use of post-consumer aluminium to ensure market-leading sustainability performance. The new facility is planned to become operational by end of first quarter 2023, serving automotive customers with smaller diameter, high quality billets that may be forged directly into high quality automotive components. Once operational, the new facility will enable Hydro to offer the full forge stock diameter portfolio from large to small, including scrap conversion.

 

Forge stock is an aluminium billet with a smaller diameter than traditional billets, and with a superior surface quality. HyForge billets from Hydro can be forged straight after delivery into high-quality automotive components, like wheel suspension parts, without adding any further process steps such as extrusion or homogenization.

 

The plant currently produces around 95 000 tonnes of extrusion ingot per year. With the expansion, Rackwitz plans to produce an additional 25-30 000 tonnes as HyForge and increase the recycling of post-consumer scrap as a major raw material for new products in the plant.

source：SteelGuru Business News