Ontario invests $1.5M in Oxford County region auto parts manufacturer
by CM Staff
The project will create 32 jobs and retain 53 existing positions, as well as enhance productivity, increase production efficiencies, and expand ArcelorMittal sales into new markets.
WOODSTOCK — The Ontario government is supporting an investment of nearly $17.4 million by Oxford County auto parts manufacturer ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks to try and help strengthen Ontario’s automotive and domestic manufacturing sectors, while attracting investment to the local economy.
ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks will invest nearly $17.4 million in new equipment and make modifications to its manufacturing facility in Woodstock to produce door rings and tailor welded outer blanks. With $1.5 million from the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund, the company is addressing production demands from automotive investments in the battery electric vehicle market. The project will create 32 jobs and retain 53 existing positions, as well as enhance productivity, increase production efficiencies, and expand ArcelorMittal sales into new markets.
“Through the Regional Development Program, our government is making targeted investments in local manufacturers to help them create good, local jobs,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. “We thank ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks for contributing to our province’s vibrant, innovative, and growing automotive sector. Investments like these are playing a pivotal role within Phase 2 of our Driving Prosperity auto plan and are making a significant impact on the Oxford Country regional economy by investing in Ontario’s talented workforce and creating the conditions for long-term economic growth.”
“ArcelorMittal has a significant asset footprint in Ontario and our advanced steel solutions are an integral component of key supply chains, including the automotive sector. The company’s advanced solutions, from advanced high strength steel to laser welded blanks, are helping to shape Ontario’s next-generation automotive industry and the province’s low carbon economy,” said Todd Baker, ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks President and CEO. “Specifically, this investment enables ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks (AMTB) to produce one million door rings annually for the electric vehicle market.”
On November 17, the government released Phase 2 of Driving Prosperity ― The Future of Ontario’s Automotive Sector. The next phase of the 10-year plan will try to help Ontario’s auto sector pivot to producing the automotive technologies of the future, including the next generation of electric vehicles and the electric batteries those vehicles need.
