Japan-based Kobe Steel announced that the second-phase plant expansion of its Chinese aluminum forging subsidiary, Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products (KAAP), has been completed and full production has commenced.  KAAP, a joint venture of Kobe Steel, Mitsui & Co. and Toyota Tsusho Corp., produces and sells aluminum forgings for automotive suspensions in China. The expansion, which began in late 2011, includes a 6,300-metric-ton forging press, a melting furnace and a casting line. As a result of the expansion, KAAP doubled the production capacity of its aluminum forgings to 250,000 pieces per month. Kobe Steel now has a production network in Japan, China and Bowling Green, Ky.