The facility will be strategically located in the Monterrey, Mexico area in the wake of a thorough analysis of current and future foundry customers. The new plant will produce cold box and no bake binders, refractory based coatings, and EXACTCAST riser sleeves. The new Mexican plant will complement ASK Chemicals’ existing facilities in the United States, bringing its portfolio of foundry solutions alongside the Mexican foundries. Further, ASK will co-locate development laboratories in order to bring the company’s longstanding record of innovation closer to the growing Mexican market. ASK Chemicals has projected that the facility will be completed in the 4th quarter of 2017, with production commencing immediately. ASK Chemicals will install binder capacity in excess of 30,000 metric tons in order to fully meet all current and future growth of the Mexican market. ASK Chemicals’ coatings plant will be built to produce 10,000 metric tons. Given the strong growth of the Mexican casting market, the foundry supplier will install infrastructure for multiple riser sleeve machines with an initial capacity of more than 5,000,000 pieces.
As Luiz Totti, Executive Vice President (Americas), has stated: “We are committed to the Mexican foundry industry and to providing them an unmatched value proposition. We are extremely excited about our new facility and the benefits it will bring to our valued customers. The future of casting production in Mexico is surely bright, and ASK Chemicals is prepared and will be ready.”
Casting production in Mexico has become increasingly attractive due to its favorable investment conditions: an increasingly well-prepared work force, casting know-how/expertise, proximity to major markets (e.g. USA), and a growing accessibility to premium foundry consumables. Several major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are already present in Mexico, with more on the way. Furthermore, forecasts predict automotive light vehicle production – a key casting indicator – to exceed five million units by 2023, a 48% increase (LMC Automotive Ltd.).