Louisville, Kentucky (Platts)--22Jan2013/539 pm EST/2239 GMT

Alcoa's $90 million expansion in Lafayette, Indiana, featuring a new aluminum lithium casting facility is on track and should be operational by the end of next year, a company official said Tuesday.

The world's largest aluminum company currently produces extrusions for the aerospace industry at the Lafayette complex, Tom Delgatto, the supply chain manager of forgings and extrusions at Lafayette, said in an interview.

He did not disclose the expected capacity of the new aluminum lithium facility.

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Alcoa unveiled plans a year ago to expand its aluminum lithium capacity at three locations around the world, including Lafayette, to meet growing demand in the aerospace market for its newest alloys. The alloys, introduced in 2011, are now patented, the company said, and allow airframers to build dramatically lighter and lower-cost airplanes as compared with composite alternatives.

The alloys are used in extrusions, forgings, sheet and plate applications across aircraft structures, including airplane wings and fuselage elements.

--Bob Matyi, newsdesk@platts.com
--Edited by Kevin Saville, kevin_saville@platts.com

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