Business
Constellium SE (NYSE:CSTM) announced today that its facility in Ravenswood, West Virginia has been selected by the U.S. Department of Defense for a grant of nearly $9.5 million to increase throughput, quality and performance of cold rolled aluminum.
The funding was awarded by the Department of Defense’s Cornerstone OTA and will be managed by the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. Constellium will use the funds to perform electrical, mechanical and hydraulic system upgrades to Ravenswood’s 144” cold rolling mill and add state of the art automation and process controls. The mill is critically important for the manufacture of high-performance aluminum plate for ballistic and blast protection of military vehicles. Army and Marine Corps modernization programs will require increased capacity of the U.S. industrial base to produce cold rolled plate over the next decade. In coordination with Cornerstone and ARL, Constellium will also invest in developing manufacturing processes and armor plate that will optimize the additional capacity and process controls of the upgraded mill.
“This investment by the Department of Defense will enable us to meet the increased demand for cold rolled plate over the next 5 to 10 years and also significantly improve the performance of armor against constantly evolving threats,” commented Buddy Stemple, CEO of Constellium Rolled Products Ravenswood. “We are very excited to have this opportunity to help protect our troops.”
Constellium’s Ravenswood facility is a leader in defense aluminum production, supplying a broad portfolio of rolled products to the Department of Defense and its OEM partners. With unmatched R&D capabilities and one of the premier aluminum plate lines in North America, Constellium is uniquely positioned to develop and engineer advanced, high-performance armor solutions.
Forward Looking Statement
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 the Redemption. 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, Constellium’s levels of indebtedness which could limit Constellium’s operating flexibility and opportunities, economic downturn, the loss of key customers, suppliers or other business relationships; disruption to business operations; the inability to meet customer quality requirements, delayed readiness for the North American Auto Body Sheet market, the capacity and effectiveness of our hedging policy activities, failure to retain key employees and other risk factors set forth under the heading “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 20-F and in our registration statement on Form F-4 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on June 3, 2019, 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.