UACJ Corp. in Japan has reached a basic joint venture agreement with two Citic Group subsidiaries, Citic Bohai Aluminum Industries and Citic Dicastal.
Through an integrated production system, the new company will manufacture automotive extruded parts and components, beginning with vehicle bumpers and battery casings, while utilizing the UACJ Group’s machining technologies and R&D teams, and leveraging the leading presence that Citic Dicastal has established in China’s auto parts market as the world’s number-one producer of automotive aluminium wheels. Furthermore, the new company will handle the marketing of its automotive parts and components while serving as a supply centre for automakers and auto parts manufacturers in the Chinese market.
In recent years, demand for aluminium has risen as automobile manufacturers began shifting to lightweight and electric vehicles in response to stricter environmental regulations in various countries of the world. In China, the world’s largest automobile producing country, sales volume is forecast to reach around 35m vehicles by 2025. Electric vehicles, for which aluminium parts are expected to be used extensively, account for about 7m, or 20%, of that total. On a per-vehicle basis, the amount of aluminium used for automotive body sheet as well as other components is expected to increase substantially in the future.
The UACJ group has already established automotive aluminium parts and components factories in the United States and Japan. By setting up manufacturing facilities in China, the group aims to meet brisk demand in China’s rapidly growing market and continue establishing a global supply network capable of promptly delivering high-quality aluminium parts and components to customers worldwide.