Braidy Industries is still looking to raise $500mn for its $1.7bn plant in Kentucky, the company’s new chief executive officer, Tom Modrowski, told Kentucky lawmakers on Wednesday.
The aluminum maker’s executives were present at a hearing by the state’s Senate Appropriations and Revenue Committee following a recent top-management shakeup, which saw Modrowski take the reins from Craig Bouchard.
The aluminum rolling plant’s financing is being organized by Braidy and includes a State of Kentucky investment worth around $15mn, but the company remains on the lookout for private capital to complete construction. Once operational, Braidy promises the plant will bring 650 full-time mill jobs to the region, along with 1,500 construction jobs.
Modrowski, responding to the committee’s questions about how the construction was being financed, said that while the company had $65mn in hand and a firm commitment for another $200mn, it would still need $500mn to complete the plant.
Considering there’s growing demand for high-strength aluminum, the plant’s progress is especially important for the state. The company indicated that it already has a pipeline of orders from customers willing to purchase around 50pc of the mill’s output once production has begun.