Carpenter Technology Corporation (NYSE:CRS) today announced a significant expansion project at its Reading, Pa. facility. The expansion will allow for the installation of two additional Electroslag Remelting Furnaces (ESR) and increase capacity for Forge Finishing and Annealing operations.
"As we outlined during Investor Day in February, and again during last week's third quarter earnings conference call, we foresee growing demand for our premium alloys that requires paced capacity expansion to accommodate," said William A. Wulfsohn, President and Chief Executive Officer. "In particular, our long-term agreements with aerospace and energy customers will consume an increasing portion of our high-value products. To maximize the output of recent premium melt investment, we now are taking steps to expand capacity in downstream processes."
The expansion will affect three buildings on the Reading site, with a phased completion time of approximately two years.
"Capacity utilization rates for premium re-melting, press, and forge operations are currently increasing," said David L. Strobel, Senior Vice President - Global Operations. "While we continually explore ways to yield more product from our current processes, lead times for this capacity expansion require that we begin this project now."