Aleris announced today that its new rolling mill in Zhenjiang,China has attained qualification to supply aluminum aerospace plate to Bombardier Aerospace. The achievement of this milestone represents a significant step for Aleris towards supplying aluminum plate from its Zhenjiang mill for use in the production of various Bombardier aircraft.

Aleris has supplied aluminum aerospace plate to Bombardier from its Koblenz, Germany site for several years. Aleris Zhenjiang, which was opened in early 2013, was modeled after the Koblenz facility to meet the needs of both global and regional aircraft manufacturers by establishing a local supply of commercial aluminum aircraft plate in Asia Pacific.

"We are pleased to expand our partnership with Bombardier as we are able to serve them now from bothEurope and China," Steve Demetriou, Aleris chairman and CEO said. "The Bombardier qualification represents a major milestone in our global growth strategy for aerospace and I am proud of our team inChina for this exceptional accomplishment."

"Bombardier is proud to be the first OEM to certify the new Aleris mill in Zhenjiang for the production of aerospace plate on our production programs," saidKristopher Pinnow, Vice President, Bombardier Business Aircraft, Procurement.

In June 2014, Aleris announced the Zhenjiang plant's achievement of Nadcap accreditation, which allowed the company to move into the final stages of qualification with Bombardier and other major aircraft manufacturers. Shipments of aircraft plate are expected to begin in the fourth quarter. Aleris Zhenjiang is believed to be one of the first facilities inAsia Pacific qualified to produce aluminum plate for a major global aircraft manufacturer.

"Our qualification with Bombardier represents a significant accomplishment for us as it formally establishes Aleris Zhenjiang as a supplier to the global aerospace industry,"John Zhu, president, Aleris Asia Pacific said. "We are proud that our products meet Bombardier's high standards for use in aerospace production, and believe this qualification is validation of our new plant's advanced capabilities and quality commitment."

Since opening last year, while pursuing the qualification process for aerospace plate production, Aleris Zhenjiang has been shipping orders to commercial plate customers globally. These products serve a number of technically demanding end uses including engineering, transportation, ship-building, and air separation units. As a prerequisite for these end uses the Zhenjiang plant has also received approval from many certification societies such as TUV, the American Bureau of Shipping, Det Norske Veritas, Class NK, and Bureau Veritas to supply products into ship-building, silo, pressure vessel and other industries.