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National Steel Car Ltd.’s (NSC) freight-car building capacity will increase by about 10,000 units annually after its parent company opens a new Alabama plant in early 2009.

Yesterday, NSC parent National Industries Inc. announced it formed a new subsidiary, National Alabama Corp., and will begin building a $350 million car manufacturing facility in Alabama’s Shoals region in a few months.

National Industries, which has spent the past two years assessing optimal plant sites and configurations, currently can produce about 15,000 cars annually at NSC’s Hamilton, Ontario, plant.

“The railroad industry’s needs continue to change and respond to world market trade patterns, and competition within the industry and with other transportation modes,” said National Industries Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gregory Aziz in a prepared statement. “As a result, quality, safety, flexibility, environmental integrity and particularly cost will continue to be the drivers for the new freight-car manufacturers in our industry.”