Aleris introduced its new $350 million hot-rolling mill in Zhenjiang, China, that is designed to meet fast-growing national and global demand for technically advanced aluminum plate products. The state-of-the-art plant is equipped to produce the most advanced value-added aluminum material for manufacturers in the aerospace and other fast-growing industries. With a hot-mill capacity of 250,000 metric tons, the plant will have a phase-one capability of producing 35,000 tons of value-added commercial plate products. Qualification programs with major aircraft manufacturers are under way, and the company expects to begin shipping aircraft material in the second half of 2014.