Alvance completes acquisition of Duffel rolling mill

Alvance, part of Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, has completed its acquisition of the Duffel aluminium recycling and rolling mill near Antwerp in Belgium.

The Duffel plant was founded in 1946 and is a big European producer of aluminium rolled products, such as body sheet for the automotive market. The plant was owned by the Aleris group for many years. Following the takeover of Aleris by Novelis, Duffel had to be sold due to regulatory requirements.  The plant has a production capacity of 250,000 tpy of rolled products and currently processes around 104,000 tpy of aluminium scrap.

The acquisition of the plant – to be renamed Alvance Aluminium Duffel – marks a significant bolstering and expansion of Alvance’s downstream portfolio, particularly in view of aluminium products for the automotive industry. The new owner has announced significant investments to further modernize the production facilities and expand production capacity. Duffel will also benefit from synergies with Alvance Aluminium Dunkerque, Europe’s largest aluminium smelter, which has been ASI certified for responsible production, sourcing and stewardship of aluminium.

Alvance CEO Arnaud de Weert sees his group as a leader in offering low carbon, high quality aluminium products to a growing market. “We are building a new aluminium business at a time when other aluminium producers are leaving Europe for lower cost territories. We believe that our growing aluminium value chain based on low carbon production of a high-quality material with proximity to our customers can not only compete with products from further afield but outclass them.”