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While European and Japanese automakers are expanding their business in Asia and Europe, they want to ensure the same quality no matter where they buy and process aluminum strip or sheet.

“In order to comply with this purchasing policy as well as possible, we team up with Kobe in technological know-how as the ideal partner. Kobe has a strong market position as a supplier to automotive manufacturing companies in Asia, but we are an important supplier partner for automotive customers in Europe with our aluminum rolled products, "says Dr. Pascal Wagner, head of the Hydro business unit Lithography, Automotive & Heat Exchanger.

The cooperation includes the exchange of technical information, the licensing of intellectual property and know-how as well as technical support in the course of individual agreements

Partners of the agreement are Hydro's rolling division through its company at its divisional headquarters in Grevenbroich, Germany, and Kobe's aluminum business through its headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. Pascal Wagner and Franz Steimmel, Head of the Automotive & amp; Heat Exchanger signed the agreement in Tokyo together with Akira Kaneko, senior officer of the Aluminum & amp; Copper from Kobe.

By sharing technology and expertise, Hydro and Kobe Steel will be able to meet the automotive industry's need for global supply.

“By working with Kobe, we are taking another step forward in implementing our strategy of strengthening our overall market position and special products with higher added value. At the same time, we help our automotive customers to supply themselves with top-quality aluminum sheet safely worldwide, "says Hydro Group CEO Oliver Bell, who is responsible for Hydro's rolling division.

Hydro is a leading supplier of top-quality aluminum rolled products, also for the outer skin of vehicles. This is the most demanding and fastest growing segment in the use of aluminum for lightweight vehicle construction, which enables mobility with less emissions of greenhouse gases and less fuel consumption. Hydro recently decided to almost double the annealing capacity for automotive body panels in its rolling mill in Grevenbroich.

Kobe Steel supplies aluminum strips and sheets for use in vehicle bodies primarily to Japanese car manufacturers. In the future, Kobe Steel plans to sell more aluminum for vehicles to European and North American automakers.

This text is machine translated. To view the original German text, click on DE on the top right of this window

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