| Industry | Aluminum production |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2011 |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
| Key people |
Dick Evans, Interim Chairman and CEO[1] Tom White, Interim CFO[2] |
| Website | http://www.constellium.com/ |
Constellium is a global aluminium producer based in Paris, France. It was created when Rio Tinto sold off Alcan Engineered Products in 2011. Alcan Engineered Products was the result of various mergers and acquisitions between French, Canadian, Swiss, British and Australian companies. Constellium is now owned by Apollo (51%), Rio Tinto (39%) and FSI (10%).[3][4]
Constellium manufactures aluminium rolled products and extrusions various alloys. It has customers in many different industries, including aerospace, transport, defense, packaging, building, industry, and solar/wind energy sectors. Its aluminum is also used in automobiles.[5] Aluminum is also used in a number of household applications, such as beverage cans, foil and electrical wiring.
Constellium supplies several defence contractors and its products are used in vessels deployed by the French navy.[6]
Constellium also supplies the aluminum structural components behind the Falcon 9 launcher NASA has chosen to resupply the international space station.[7]
It has a board of eight directors. Five of them are nominated by Apollo, two by Rio Tinto, one nominated from FSI. The board also includes Constelium’s CEO (also an Appolo nomination).[8]
Constellium reported US $4.4 billion in revenues in 2010 (then known as Alcan Engineered Products).[9]
Contents |
Henri Merle et Compagnie was founded in 1855, in France. It originally produced caustic soda from coal, salt, pyrites and limestone, but also began producing aluminum metal in 1860.[10] The Northern Aluminum Company, Ltd, was founded in Canada in 1902, as a Canadian subsidiary of the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, later called Alcoa. In 1925 it was renamed Aluminum Company of Canada in 1925, and separated from Alcoa in 1928, becoming Aluminum of Canada Ltd, or Alcan. [11]
Henri Merle et Compagnie was renamed Pechiney in 1950, growing to become one of the world’s leading aluminum manufacturers. In 2000, Pechiney announced that it had agreed to join in a merger with Canada's Alcan and Switzerland's Alagroup to form a new globally operating aluminum producer, which, with sales worth nearly $30 billion, became one of the biggest players in the industry, ahead of American company Alcoa.[12]
However, the merger bumped up against European Commission demands that Alcan sell its interests in a German aluminum producer, Alunorf. Alcan refused to sell, and Pechiney was forced to withdraw from the merger. Alcan and Algroup merged that year, becoming Alcan Inc.[13][14]
Pechiney became the wholly owned subsidiary of Alcan in 2003, after it was purchased in a deal worth $4.52 billion.[15] Alcan spun off the majority of pre-Pechiney rolling activities to create an independent company—Novelis Inc. [16]
The original Rio Tinto company was established in Spain in 1873, and became the world’s largest copper producer by the end of the 1880’s.[17] Today, the Rio Tinto Group is a British-Australian, multinational mining and resources group.
Rio Tinto acquired the Canadian aluminium producer Alcan Inc. in 2007, after a US$38 billion deal that made Rio Tinto one of the world's leading aluminum producer. In 2008, Alcan Inc was amalgamated with Rio Tinto Canada Holding and renamed Rio Tinto Alcan Inc. Rio Tinto Alcan is based in Montreal and retains Alcan's CEO, Dick Evans.[18]
In 2011, Rio Tinto sold off Alcan Engineered Products. Alcan Enginered Products was renamed Constellium after the deal.[19]
Constellium’s global aerospace, transportation and industry business unit has 3,400 employees working at 8 sites in Europe and America. The company deliver aircraft parts and components for the commercial aircraft, military and space sectors.
Designs and produces aluminum products including packaging, automotive, industrial coil and sheet. The sheet unit employs 1,900 people.
Constellium supplies of diverse customized extrusions, including hard alloys and large profiles. The company has ten sites in Europe.
Constellium provides structures for European and North American car manufacturers, and also emerging markets in the global automotive sector, from five sites in Germany, the U.S. and China.
The company created its Alcan International Network, which links manufacturers with its clients, mainly in specialty chemicals, minerals and raw materials. The network employs 260 people at 24 agencies in 22 countries.[20]
Recycling has become very important in the aluminium industry, and 75% of all aluminium produced since 1888 is still in use today. As part of its recycling programme, Constellium is a partner in the EU PAMELA project, where it helped recycle the aluminium parts of a 35-year-old twin-aisle Airbus A300 airplane. 77% of the weight of the plane was aluminium, which is fully recyclable and does not lose its properties when recycled. [21][22]
Constellium operates 24 production facilities throughout Europe and the US, with commercial operations in 60 countries.[23] It employs 9,500 people. More than 70% of Constellium’s revenues come from Europe.[24]
Constellium has five main sites that supply its global aerospace, transportation and industry (GATI), specialty sheet, extrusions, and automotive structures divisions.
In Germany, Constellium’s Singen site has cold mills, an integrated hot/cold rolling line and one of the largest extrusion presses in the world.
In France, Constellium has two sites: Neuf-Brisach and Issoire. Neuf-Brisach houses a rolling mill, an automotive finishing line and a recycling center. Issoire has one of the world’s two leading aerospace plate mills and large-volume recycling.
The Sierre site in Switzerland has a dedicated precision plate shop for general engineering products. In the USA (Ravenswood), Constellium has an aerospace plate shop with stretcher and wide-coil capabilities.[25]
Founded in 1990 by former Drexel Burnham Lambert banker, Leon Black, Apollo specialises in leveraged buyout transactions and purchases of distressed securities involving corporate restructuring, special situations and industry consolidations. Apollo has assets under management of more than $54 billion. Henry Silverman is Chief Operating Officer.[26] [27]
Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group with Headquarters in the UK. Its business is discovering, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products include aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium-dioxide, salt, talc) and ironore.[28]
FSI is a French Investment Fund owned by the Caisse des Dépôts (51%) and the French government (49%).[29]