Hydro Aluminum, Oslo, Norway, will construct its first automotive components plant in China. It will build the plant in Suzhou, north of Shanghai. At the new plant, Hydro will produce precision drawn tubing, multiport extrusions, (MPEs) and extruded tubular profiles used in automotive heat transfer applications. The company will also deliver other components. Hydro will break ground in the first quarter of 2004 and install the plant's extrusion press by July 2004. Production is scheduled to start in the third quarter. The plant will create about 140 new jobs in its first phase. Total investment is estimated at NOK 150 million (EUR 18 million).