Gränges completes purchase of Huntingdon aluminum plant

HUNTINGDON, Tenn. — It was smiles all around on Wednesday afternoon in Huntingdon with Gränges AB bringing more than 500 years of history in the aluminum industry to West Tennessee.

“Indeed a milestone for Gränges,” Gränges CEO Johan Menckel told WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News. “We are very happy to be the owner of the Noranda downstream business, specifically here, the operation in Huntingdon.”

Menckel along with other company executives made the nearly 5,000-mile journey from Sweden to Carroll County and said they are happy to be adding their first plants in North America.

“It’s a very well-run business — well-managed, very skillful workforce, competent people in a strong business position in North America,” Menckel said. “And of course, it’s a major benefit for Gränges.”

Local officials believe the workforce helped draw a suitor from half the globe away.

“It’s all about the productivity. It’s all about profitability,” said Brad Hurley, president of the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce. “When you took a long, hard look and you looked at aluminum rolling operations, Huntingdon, Tennessee, has some of the most sophisticated operations in the world.”

And building on that productivity is something Gränges said they will look to do when the time is right.

“We have a clear objective to expand of course and to produce all our products for North America in North America, meaning of course that additional investments are needed in the future,” Menckel said.

Gränges also bought former Noranda plants in North Carolina and Arkansas.

Gränges officials said all 400 employees keep their jobs at the Huntingdon plant.