Kentucky Aluminum Rolling Mill Facility Seeks $800M Loan From U.S. Agency

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Braidy Industries has sought additional funding for its proposed aluminum rolling mill facility in Ashland, Kentucky. The investment group has reportedly applied for a loan of $800 million from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) direct loan program under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to help fund its plant construction.

Craig Bouchard, CEO, Braidy Industries stated that the company has received a “letter of substantial completion” from the DOE agency. However, this is only the first step in the loan review process, sources said.

It must be noted that the agency has not granted any loan in the past eight years. The first time it gave out a loan was in 2009 to Ford Motor Co. towards retooling its Louisville assembly plant. Since then, only four other businesses have received funding from the agency. Incidentally, the loan program is intended to help businesses that promote manufacture of fuel-efficient cars or components for such vehicles.

Braidy Industries estimates an investment of $1.7 billion to build the plant, which upon completion is expected to emerge as a major supplier of lightweight sheet aluminum to automotive industry. The promise by the company to create around 500 well-paid jobs in the region had prompted the state government to make an investment of $15 million into the project. The loan of $800 million would help the company procure nearly 50% of $1.7 billion required to build the mill.