Lowndes County could be the future home of a mill that produces 600,000 tons of aluminum a year and employs up to 850 people.
American Specialty Alloys issued a media release Monday saying it has plans to construct a $1.2 billion facility “in the southeastern United States.” The company’s chief marketing officer told The Dispatch the facility’s location “will be announced in the very near future.”
“We are narrowing and finalizing our search,” George Riel with American Specialty Alloy said Monday. “We’re dotting our Is and crossing our Ts. We’re very excited about the project.”
The company, which incorporated in Mississippi in March, has applied to the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality for a permit to prepare a site along the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway in Lowndes County.
In a “large construction notice of intent” filed with MDEQ in September, the company indicated that it plans to undertake “site clearing, grading and excavating for (research and development) center” on 19 acres near the intersection of Guerry Road and Artesia Road.
However, Roger Boggs, the CEO of American Specialty Alloys, said other states might be in the running for the facility, including Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama. He said the company has permits “in place” in other states as part of its effort to select sites.
American Specialty describes itself as American-owned. Boggs declined to elaborate on shareholders or how the mill would be financed.
In the company’s media release Monday, Boggs said he is “proud to be bringing this new facility to market.”
“We have spent a significant amount of time completing our business strategies, engineering plans and market analysis and we are now narrowing and finalizing our site selection,” Boggs said.
Joe Max Higgins, the CEO of the Golden Triangle Development LINK, in a voicemail left with The Dispatch on Monday, declined to comment.
“We do not comment on economic development projects until a deal has been completed,” he said.
The first phase of the 1.4 million square plant — which is being touted as the world’s first “green” mini-mill with $200 million in pollution control systems — is slated to begin in late 2016, according to the company.
“We are building a modern mill and using a process that will change aluminum production forever in this industry,” Boggs said. “The mill will leverage the use of automation, low cost utilities in the South and will use recycled aluminum to efficiently produce…higher grade aluminum.”
When the plant is up and running, it will create flat-rolled aluminum to be used in the automotive industry. The company aims to supply automakers switching from steel to aluminum in an effort to cut down vehicle weight and increase fuel efficiency. One recent example of that shift is the Ford F-150 pickup.
Boggs said the mill is designed to melt scrap into new aluminum, produce it more cheaply and deliver it more quickly than existing mills. The company would use equipment and know-how supplied by Italian machinery maker Daniele SpA and its British subsidiary Innoval Technology, according to Boggs. In MDEQ documents, the application is called Project Innoval.
The plant will initially create 2,000 temporary construction jobs, according to the company. When fully operational, according to Boggs, it will employ between 650 to 850 people on a permanent basis.
Jeff Rent, spokesperson with Mississippi Development Authority, said his office “cannot comment on what may or may not be an economic development project.”
A website for American Specialty Alloys — asametals.com — has a live “countdown” leading up to Dec. 19 on its homepage when the company claims a “rollout” will take place.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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