Aluminum plant receives tax abatement approval from Columbus City Council

A Walesboro-area alloyed aluminum manufacturer is planning to add 10 new jobs in Columbus as part of a more than $6.1 million dollar expansion.

Nikkei MC Aluminum America asked Columbus City Council last night for a tax break on a $1.2 million dollar expansion of its facility on Inwood Drive and $4.9 million in new manufacturing equipment. The company says that the expansion will let it keep 85 existing jobs and add 10 more by July of next year. The average wage of the new jobs would be $15.30 per hour.

The company started in Columbus in 1989 as MC Aluminum America with 20 employees. The company manufactures aluminum alloys usable for automotive components from scrap aluminum according to the presentation to City Council. The expansion will allow the company to provide all of the aluminum it ships next door to Enkei Wheels as molten metal, instead of having part of the aluminum provided as cooled ingots. The company will be adding a furnace and processing equipment.

The tax abatement would phase in the taxes on the real property and personal property over 10 years, saving the company about $413,000 dollars in taxes over the life of the abatement.

Columbus City Council approved the abatement request.