ASK Chemicals has approved the construction of a Mexican production facility in the Monterrey area that will produce binders, refractory coatings, and riser sleeves for the growing Mexican foundry industry.
The facility will be strategically located in Monterrey 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. ASK will co-locate development laboratories to bring the company’s longstanding record of innovation closer to the growing Mexican market. The facility is due to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2017, with production commencing immediately. ASK Chemicals will install binder capacity in excess of 30,000 metric tons to fully meet all current and future growth of the Mexican market. The company’s 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.
Executive vice president (Americas), Luiz Totti said: “We are committed to the Mexican foundry industry and to providing it with 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 favourable investment conditions - an increasingly well-prepared workforce, casting know-how/expertise, proximity to major markets (e.g. USA), and a growing accessibility to premium foundry consumables. Several major OEMs are already present in Mexico, with more on the way. Also, forecasts predict automotive light vehicle production - a key casting indicator - to exceed five million units by 2023, a 48 per cent increase (LMC Automotive Ltd).