Alabama’s industrial products include cast iron and steel products (including cast iron and steel pipes); paper, lumber and wood products; mining (mainly coal); plastic products; cars and trucks; and clothing.
Additionally, Alabama manufactures aerospace and electronic products, primarily in the Huntsville area, the location of NASA’s George C. Marshall Space Flight Center and the U.S. Army Materiel Command, headquartered at Redstone Arsenal.
Much of Alabama’s economic growth since the 1990s has been driven by the expansion of the state’s automotive industry.
The state is home to Honda Manufacturing of Alabama, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama, Mercedes-Benz US International and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Alabama, as well as their various suppliers. Since 1993, the automotive industry has created more than 67,800 new jobs in the state. Currently, Alabama ranks 4th in the country in terms of car exports. Automakers accounted for about a third of the state’s industrial growth in 2012. The eight models produced at the state’s automobile plants totaled a total of 74,335 vehicles in 2012. The highest sales of models during this period were the compact car Hyundai Elantra, Mercedes. – A Benz GL-Class SUV and a Honda Ridgeline SUV.
Steel producers Outokumpu, Nucor, SSAB, ThyssenKrupp and US Steel have facilities in Alabama and employ more than 10,000 people. In May 2007 , German steel manufacturer ThyssenKrupp selected Calvert in Mobile County to build a $ 4.65 billion stainless and carbon steel processing plant . ThyssenKrupp’s stainless steel division, Inoxum, including the stainless part of the Calvert plant, was sold to the Finnish stainless steel company Outokumpu in 2012. The final bids for the remainder of the ThyssenKrupp plant were submitted by ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel for $1.6 billion in March 2013.
Companhia Siderúrgica Nacional has submitted a combined offer for the Calvert plant plus a controlling stake in the ThyssenKrupp plant in Brazil for $3.8 billion. In July 2013, the plant was sold to ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel. Hunt Refining Company, a subsidiary of Hunt Consolidated, Inc., is based in Tuscaloosa and operates an oil refinery there. The company also operates terminals in Mobile, Melvin and Moundville. JVC America, Inc. operates an optical disc replication and packaging plant in Tuscaloosa. The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company operates a large factory in Gadsden that employs about 1,400 people. It has been operating since 1929. On July 2 , 2012 , Airbus CEO Fabrice Bregier from the Mobile Convention Center officially announced the construction of an Airbus A320 family aircraft assembly plant in Mobile . The plans include the construction of a $600 million plant at Brookley Aeroplex to assemble the A319, A320 and A321 aircraft.
Construction began in 2013, it is planned to put it into operation by 2015 and produce up to 50 aircraft per year by 2017. The assembly plant is the company’s first plant built in the United States. On February 1, 2013, it was announced that Airbus had hired Hoar Construction from Alabama to oversee the construction of the facility. Production began at the enterprise on September 14, 2015. In 2020, Airbus opened a second assembly line at the company.