Big business for Logan

ALUMINIUM systems distributor Alspec has made a ‘multimillion dollar’ investment in a Loganlea extrusion plant, after buying a 50 per cent stake in Inex Australia.

Alspec managing director Brendan Brosnan says the Melbourne-based company made the investment to avoid freight costs for its Queensland market, while improving supply chain efficiency.

“We’re fundamentally a core distribution business, selling aluminium systems to fabricators, but we hadn’t previously been involved in extrusion ourselves – we’d bought off others, but this was the next logical step in having a fully integrated solution,” he says.

“It really makes sense to have two presses regionally as extrusion is extremely expensive stuff to freight, so it makes sense to service our customers from both Melbourne and Brisbane.

“We were a customer of Inex in Melbourne, so they asked to become a partner in their new press, and this opportunity meant that we bought a 50 per cent, which allowed the business to open the extrusion plant – we’ve already got the volume so it’s a low risk investment.”

The new facility will include a 11,877sqm site for Alspec, 7425sqm for Inex, as well as 4521sqm for Inex’s associated company AWS.

“There’s over 23,000sqm of development and our distribution business is literally across the driveway from the manufacturing facility, so there’s effectively no cost.”

Around 120 staff are expected to be employed across the sites.

The facility on Jutland Street is to be completed around Christmas, with occupation and manufacturing to start in early 2011.