DoD awards Constellium Muscle Shoals $23M to increase aluminum casting capacity

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Defense announced it had awarded Constellium Muscle Shoals LLC $23 million to increase annual aluminum casting production capacity.

The award will also help the Muscle Shoals, Alabama-company secure the capability to supply U.S. mills with aluminum casting and provide surge capacity to U.S. security commitments worldwide. Officials said the award is part of the Defense Production Act Investment (DPAI) program and will support the 2024 National Defense Industrial Strategy to support domestic aluminum production as a way to increase supply chain resilience.

“Aluminum castings are dispersed across many critical applications in defense – including flight critical structural components, rocket and space systems, and light-weight armor for ground vehicles,” Dr. Laura Taylor-Kale, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Base Policy (ASD(IBP)), said. “This award will help address capability and capacity challenges that the U.S. aluminum casting industry faces as a result of an insufficient workforce and complex government policies.”

Constellium said it will use the funding to increase annual aluminum casting capacity up to an additional 300 million pounds. The added capacity will helps the plant increase its recycled input, reduce its use of primary metal and provide the U.S. industrial base with another domestic source of supply for aluminum rolling ingots, the company said. Constellium is a major aluminum sheet supplier for the packaging and automotive markets.

Since the beginning of the 2024 fiscal year, more than $381 million in DPAI awards has been made available. The DPAI program has benefitted 18 projects, and is overseen by the ASD(IBP)’s Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization program.

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