Kaiser Aluminum announced on  June 23 that will spend $19 million for an expansion at its Tennalum facility in Jackson, Tenn. Through the addition of an extrusion press, heat treat furnace, drawbench and other ancillary equipment the company will increase both capacity and its capabilities.

The Tennalum project is expected to be completed and production-ready by the end of 2009.

"Tennalum is a world-class facility that exemplifies Kaiser Aluminum's Best-In-Class reputation and provides an excellent platform for expansion," said Jack A. Hockema, CEO of Kaiser Aluminum. "By investing in additional growth at the facility, we'll continue to leverage our technical expertise and a long, proven history as the preferred supplier to our service center, aerospace and other customers with a wide range of high-quality fabricated aluminum products."

Since 2005, Kaiser Aluminum has announced $263 million of total investment in its organic growth initiatives, which include a $139 million expansion of heat treat plate capacity and capabilities for aerospace applications and a $91 million program to significantly improve the capabilities and efficiencies of rod, bar and tube operations.

Kaiser Aluminum is headquartered in Foothill Ranch, Calif., and produces fabricated aluminum products, serving the aerospace market as well the custom automotive and industrial markets. The company's North American facilities annually produce more than 500 million pounds of value-added sheet, plate, extrusions, forgings, rod, bar and tube products.