Romanian aluminium firm Alro SA announced on Friday that it had signed a contract with French aerospace company Airbus SAS.
According to the press release from Alro, the multi-year agreement is for the firm to supply Airbus with flat-rolled aluminium products. No specific airframes were mentioned in the press release, nor was the value of the contract in question.
“We are looking forward to starting this partnership with Airbus and supplying best quality aluminium plates for the aerospace industry,” said Alro’s CEO Gheorghe Dobra. “This opportunity is yet another confirmation that the significant investments we made in upgrading our production facilities and extending our portfolio were successful. We are committed to offering our customers the best products available on the market and to meeting all their requirements and specifications in terms of quality, portfolio and terms of supply.”
Alro holds the NADCAP (National Aerospace and Defence Contractor Accreditation Programme) performance certification. The certification indicates Alro’s conformity with requirements for the aerospace industry.
Alro was founded in 1963 and is based in Slatina, Romania. The firm, a subsidiary of Vimetco N.V., has an installed capacity of 265,000 metric tons per year, making it one of the largest producers in Central and Eastern Europe. In addition to its aluminium smelting operation, Alro also runs Alum Tulcea, the country’s only alumina refinery, and Vimetco Extrusion, the country’s largest aluminium extrusion operation. It markets mainly to states within the European Union, but it also has a marginal presence in the United States and Asia. The firm shipped 79,533 metric tons in the first six months of 2016, up year-on-year by 10,900 metric tons. However, Alro’s turnover for the first half of the year was US$276 million, down US$25 million year-on-year.
Airbus SAS is a subsidiary of Airbus Group SE. The firm manufactures civil aircraft at plants in France, Germany, Spain, China, United Kingdom, and the United States.