ALVANCE Aluminium Group Completes Acquisition Of Duffel Recycling And Rolling Mill In Belgium

On the 1st October, we announced that we had completed the purchase of the Duffel aluminium recycling and rolling mill near Antwerp in Belgium.

Founded in 1946, Duffel is a leading European producer of premium aluminium rolled products and a pioneer in the European automotive body sheets (ABS) market. The acquisition of the plant – to be renamed ALVANCE Aluminium Duffel – marks a significant bolstering and expansion of ALVANCE’s downstream portfolio and its ambition to be a leading supplier of value added, sustainable aluminium products to the automotive sector and other industries.

Duffel will also add to the group’s drive to maximise “closed loop” operations across its value chain where waste or scrap products are either recycled by the site that produces them or by another plant within the group – lowering the carbon footprint of the business and extracting even more value from the process. The plant has the capacity to process 250ktpa and currently reuses around 104ktpa of aluminium scrap material and will expand recycling to include any potential synergies with customers and Group companies like Dunkerque.  This takes us significantly forward towards our aim of reaching 1mtpa capacity.

ALVANCE is committed to maximising both the volumes and variety of value-added products produced by the site and plans to increase the production capacity at the 1,000-worker site by investing significantly in the modernisation of its production equipment. Duffel will also benefit from synergies with ALVANCE Aluminium Dunkerque, Europe’s largest aluminium smelter, which will include direct supply of guaranteed quality, primary aluminium.

The acquisition of Duffel will also add to GFG Alliance’s credentials as a significant foreign direct investor in Belgium having already bought the Liege steelworks from ArcelorMittal in July 2019.