News Room 2011 (The former Furukawa-Sky)

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Furukawa-Sky to Build Aluminum Rolling Mill in Thailand

November 4, 2011

Furukawa-Sky has agreed to purchase a site at the Amata City Industrial Estate in Rayong Province in eastern Thailand and will provide 100% of the investment to build an aluminum rolling mill on the site.

The goal in constructing the new plant is to manufacture and sell aluminum sheet materials—used in such items as beverage cans, automotive heat exchangers and electrical components—to meet expected demand growth in Southeast Asia. We will begin Phase I of the project by providing raw materials from plants in Japan, using cold-rolling machines lying idle after discontinuing upstream processing at the Nikko Plant to handle cold-rolling and later processes. In Phase II, we plan to transition to integrated production, beginning with casting, and expand the plant's capacity.

During Phase I, annual production capacity is likely to be around 60,000 tons, with plant construction costing ¥13.0 billion. Construction will begin around March 2012, and operations are to start in January 2014.

Furukawa-Sky expects to fund most of the construction internally, but may raise funds from financial institutions if necessary.

One of the priority policies stated in our 2012 Medium-Term Plan is to "respond appropriately to growing overseas markets." We have already acquired a base for manufacturing beverage can stock in North America by purchasing shares in Tri-Arrows Aluminum Inc., a U.S. manufacturer and supplier of rolled aluminum sheet. We now plan to expand our production base in Southeast Asia to meet the increasing demands of this rapidly growing market. Combined with existing bases in Europe and China, the new facilities will enable Furukawa-Sky to expand its rolled aluminum sheet operations and meet customer needs globally.

Overview of the New Plant
Location : Within the Amata City Industrial Estate, Rayong Province, Thailand
Production capacity : Approximately 60,000 tons/year (Phase I)
Construction cost : Approximately ¥13.0 billion (Phase I)
Start of construction : Scheduled for March 2012 (Phase I)
Start of operations : Scheduled for January 2014 (Phase I)
Business : Manufacture and sale of rolled aluminum sheet