Constellium and UACJ Announce Opening of their Joint Venture's Automotive Body Sheet Plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky

BOWLING GREEN, Ky., Sept. 14, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Constellium N.V. (NYSE and Euronext: CSTM) and UACJ Corporation (UACJ) (5741:TSE) announced today the official opening of their new manufacturing plant in Bowling Green, Kentucky, to supply aluminium automotive body sheet to the North American automotive industry under their joint venture, Constellium-UACJ ABS LLC. 

The strategically-located 225,000 square foot facility will house an initial capacity of 100,000 metric tons. It has secured its metal supply with both partners' rolling mills. With cutting-edge equipment and technologies, the facility expects to offer a flat rolled product portfolio for a wide range of applications including closure panels, as well as body structures. The plant is currently in qualification phase, with ramp-up planned over the next two years. As of today, the line is essentially committed with orders from leading automotive OEMs in North America.

"Today's opening represents a significant step towards securing our position as a leading player in the fast growing North American automotive body sheet market," said Simon Laddychuk, Chief Executive Officer of the joint venture. "Constellium and UACJ's combined industrial legacy and best-in-class assets, as well as our leading position in innovation with the opening of a new R&D hub in Plymouth, MI, position the joint venture to be the partner of choice for North American automotive OEMs."

"The opening of the first North American automotive body sheet finishing line with our partner UACJ, is an important milestone in our goal to become a global leader in aluminium automotive solutions," added Jean-Marc Germain, Chief Executive Officer of Constellium. "As a one-stop shop, Constellium is well-positioned to provide automotive OEMs with innovative rolled and extruded products, which lighten vehicle weight, while offering exceptional performance characteristics."

"We are thrilled to be opening this plant at a time when the aluminium automotive market in the US is extremely promising." said Mitsuru Okada, Representative Director & President of UACJ. "We are delighted to contribute to the automotive customers in North America not only with our automotive parts business, but also with Constellium-UACJ's advanced and innovative products with a state of the art continuous annealing and pretreatment line."

"Kentucky is committed to remaining ahead of the curve as the automotive industry evolves," Gov. Matt Bevin said. "Constellium-UACJ's commitment to supplying aluminium sheeting for lighter-weight vehicles stands as a great example of how the Commonwealth's auto industry is moving forward. Congratulations to South Central Kentucky and Constellium-UACJ for establishing what promises to be a very rewarding partnership."

The North American aluminium body sheet market is expanding rapidly to respond to stringent automotive regulations calling for major car weight reduction and fuel efficiency. As a growing number of automotive OEMs integrate aluminium in their models, the use of aluminium automotive body sheet in North America increased from 70kt in 2012 to approximately 500kt in 2015 and is forecasted to reach more than 1,000kt in 2020.

About Constellium
Constellium (NYSE and Euronext: CSTM) is a global sector leader that develops innovative, value added aluminium products for a broad scope of markets and applications, including aerospace, automotive and packaging. Constellium generated €5.2 billion of revenue in 2015.
www.constellium.com 

About UACJ
UACJ (5741:TSE) is an aluminum industry leader in a competitive global market. We're striving to secure a foothold in the global marketplace utilizing our global supply and sales networks with hubs in Japan, Thailand and the USA. UACJ has more than 70 group companies throughout the world and boast the world's third largest aluminum production capacity.
www.uacj.co.jp/english/

Forward-looking statements
Certain statements contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. This press release may contain "forward looking statements" with respect to our business, results of operations and financial condition, and our expectations or beliefs concerning future events and conditions. You can identify forward-looking statements because they contain words such as, but not limited to, "believes," "expects," "may," "should," "approximately," "anticipates," "estimates," "intends," "plans," "targets," likely," "will," "would," "could" and similar expressions (or the negative of these terminologies or expressions). All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties.  Many risks and uncertainties are inherent in our industry and markets. Others are more specific to our business and operations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the ability of Constellium and Wise Metals to achieve expected synergies and the timing thereof, Constellium's increased levels of indebtedness which could limit Constellium's operating flexibility and opportunities; the potential failure to retain key employees, the loss of customers, suppliers and other business relationships as a result of the acquisition of Wise Metals; disruptions to business operations; slower or lower than expected growth in the North American market for Body-in-White aluminium rolled products, and other risk factors set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F, and as described from time to time in subsequent reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The occurrence of the events described and the achievement of the expected results depend on many events, some or all of which are not predictable or within our control. Consequently, actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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SOURCE Constellium

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