Company signs letter of intent for technology licensing agreement with manufacturing equipment leader Danieli Group
- Alcoa and Danieli Group agree to license intellectual property associated with advanced Micromill® alloys and process technology
- Deal to initially focus on Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia, bringing breakthrough aluminum sheet technology to customers around the world
- Micromill alloy is 40 percent more formable and 30 percent stronger than today’s automotive aluminum, twice as formable and at least 30 percent lighter than high strength steel; Technology cuts manufacturing production time from 20 days to 20 minutes
Lightweight metals leader Alcoa (NYSE: AA) today announced it will
commercialize its breakthrough MicromillTM technology,
working with the Danieli Group, a global supplier of plants and
equipment to the metals industry. Danieli will license Alcoa’s
intellectual property associated with manufacturing advanced Micromill®
products. In a separate announcement
made earlier today, Alcoa and Ford Motor Company said that the automaker
has selected Micromill material to be used on its 2016 Ford F-150 truck.
Under the letter of intent, Alcoa and Danieli will work toward an
agreement to sell Micromill equipment and license the patented Micromill
technology. As part of the collaboration, Alcoa will grant Danieli
exclusive rights to sell Micromill equipment for a limited period of
time. In addition, the companies will work together to license the
Micromill alloys and process technology to potential customers around
the world, initially targeting Europe, South America, and Southeast Asia.
“This agreement puts our disruptive Micromill technology on the
fast-track to commercialization,” said Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa Chairman
and Chief Executive Officer. “Micromill technology has the potential to
change the face of the aluminum rolling industry – producing material
with unrivalled characteristics, through a revolutionary manufacturing
process. Our partnership with Danieli will move this proprietary
technology from pilot plant to full-scale production, unlocking value
for our shareholders and bringing high-tech metal to customers around
the world.”
To date, the Company has Micromill qualification agreements in place
with nine major automotive customers on three continents, including Ford.
In addition to Ford’s use of Micromill material on the F-150, Alcoa
further announced today it has entered into a Joint Development
Agreement to collaborate with the automaker on next-generation aluminum
alloys for automotive parts using Micromill technology. The projected
use of Micromill material on Ford vehicles is expected to more than
double from 2016 to 2017.
Micromill technology produces an aluminum alloy that is 40 percent more
formable and 30 percent stronger than today’s automotive aluminum, while
meeting stringent automotive surface quality requirements. Compared with
parts made from high strength steel, automotive parts made with
Micromill material are twice as formable and at least 30 percent lighter.
In addition to the enhanced material properties that the Micromill
delivers, it also significantly reduces production time. It is the
fastest, most productive aluminum casting and rolling system in the
world. A traditional rolling mill takes around 20 days to turn molten
metal into a coil; Micromill does it in just 20 minutes.
Specific terms of the letter of intent with Danieli were not disclosed.
About the Alcoa Micromill
The Micromill
is Alcoa’s proprietary technology that manufactures the most advanced
aluminum sheet on the market. The Micromill process dramatically changes
the microstructure of the metal, producing an aluminum alloy that has 40
percent greater formability and 30 percent greater strength than the
incumbent automotive aluminum used today while meeting stringent
automotive surface quality requirements. Additionally, automotive parts
made with Micromill material will be twice as formable and at least 30
percent lighter than parts made from high strength steel. The Micromill
alloy has formability characteristics comparable to mild steels.
The increased formability of Micromill aluminum makes it easier to shape
into intricate forms, such as the inside panels of automobile doors and
external fenders, which today are generally made of steel. The increased
material strength improves dent resistance, enabling the production of
automotive sheet that is thinner and even lighter than previous
generations.
It is also the fastest, most productive aluminum casting and rolling
system in the world. A traditional rolling mill takes around 20 days to
turn molten metal into coil; Micromill does it in just 20 minutes.
About Alcoa
A global leader in lightweight metals technology, engineering and
manufacturing, Alcoa innovates multi-material solutions that advance our
world. Our technologies enhance transportation, from automotive and
commercial transport to air and space travel, and improve industrial and
consumer electronics products. We enable smart buildings, sustainable
food and beverage packaging, high performance defense vehicles across
air, land and sea, deeper oil and gas drilling and more efficient power
generation. We pioneered the aluminum industry over 125 years ago, and
today, our more than 60,000 people in 30 countries deliver value-add
products made of titanium, nickel and aluminum, and produce
best-in-class bauxite, alumina and primary aluminum products. For more
information, visit www.alcoa.com,
follow @Alcoa on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Alcoa
and follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Alcoa.
About Danieli Group
Danieli Group is a leading global supplier of plant equipment to the
metals industry, from turnkey rolling mill equipment to integrated
plants. The Danieli Team is a multinational collection of companies that
have helped shape the history – not to mention the progress – of metals
production from ferrous to non-ferrous materials. The Danieli Group’s
know-how covers essentially all the production steps for high-quality
metal products with strengths developed especially for continuous
processes in the metallurgical industry.
Danieli’s mission is to be a step ahead to support customers’
competitiveness (CAPEX + OPEX), developing technological packages to
improve existing plants, to let them become as competitive as the new
ones.
Danieli is present worldwide with 11,000 employees and 8 directly
managed engineering and production centers in Italy, Germany, Thailand,
China, Austria, India and Russia. For more information, visit http://www.danieli.com/en/
Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains statements that relate to future events and
expectations and as such constitute forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Forward-looking statements include those containing such words as
“anticipates,” “estimates,” “expects,” “forecasts,” “intends,” “may,”
“outlook,” “plans,” “projects,” “should,” “targets,” “will,” or other
words of similar meaning. All statements that reflect Alcoa’s
expectations, assumptions or projections about the future other than
statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including,
without limitation, statements regarding growth opportunities for
aluminum in automotive, commercial transportation, and other
applications; forecasts regarding the potential for new manufacturing
technologies, equipment, or processes, including the Alcoa MicromillTM;
projections regarding the volume of Micromill material to be used on
Ford vehicles; and statements about Alcoa’s strategies, outlook, and
business and financial prospects. Forward-looking statements are subject
to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and changes in circumstances
that are difficult to predict and are not guarantees of future
performance. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements include: (a)
material adverse changes in aluminum industry conditions; (b)
unfavorable changes in the markets served by Alcoa, including
automotive, commercial transportation, and other markets; (c) failure to
successfully commercialize, or to realize expected benefits from, new or
innovative technologies, equipment, processes, or products, including,
without limitation, the Alcoa MicromillTM, at the levels or
by the dates anticipated, whether due to changes in the regulatory
environment, competitive developments, unexpected events, such as
failure of equipment or processes to meet specifications or customer
performance expectations, disagreements with partners, or other factors;
(d) the risk that Alcoa is unable to supply the volume of Micromill®
material to Ford in the quantities or by the dates required, or that
such material is not used by Ford in the volumes projected; (e) the risk
that the technology licensing agreement for the Micromill process is not
completed, or does not result in the revenues anticipated, whether due
to the failure to document the confidential information necessary for
the successful implementation of the Micromill licensing program,
failure of the commercial strategy, or other reasons; (f) risks relating
to the business or financial condition of key customers, suppliers, and
business partners of Alcoa; and (g) the other risk factors discussed in
Alcoa’s Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and other reports
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Alcoa disclaims any
intention or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking
statements, whether in response to new information, future events or
otherwise, except as required by applicable law.
Alcoa Investor Contact
Nahla Azmy, 212-836-2674
Nahla.azmy@alcoa.com
or
Alcoa Media Contact
Lori Lecker, 412-553-3186
lori.lecker@alcoa.com