Aluminum casthouses are facing a growing operational challenge of increasing the use of recycled metal without compromising melt quality, recovery rates or production efficiency. As manufacturers look to incorporate more post-consumer recycled (PCR) aluminum, processing lightweight scrap, machining chips and other low-density materials has become increasingly important. Such materials are difficult to introduce into conventional melting furnaces, making efficient scrap feeding and submergence essential to improving recycling performance. The challenge extends beyond scrap preparation. Maintaining consistent temperature and chemical composition throughout the molten metal bath is critical to producing specification-compliant aluminum. Equipment used for circulation and stirring must...
ClearFlow Metalworks plans to invest $28 million in a new aluminum manufacturing facility in Russellville, Kentucky, marking an expansion of secondary aluminum production in the United States. The project is expected to create 50 full-time jobs, with its first phase designed to deliver an estimated annual production capacity of approximately 100,000 tons. The company, which focuses on sustainable aluminum recycling and production, will develop the facility in phases. Phase I will feature a secondary aluminum billet casting operation, processing recycled aluminum materials into billets for extrusion and other downstream manufacturing applications. The project will establish ClearFlow's manufacturing presence in the U.S. and support domestic demand for aluminum products while expanding...
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The economy of Greece is the 51st largest in the world with a nominal gross domestic product (GDP) of $218.032 billion per annum. In terms of purchasing power parity, Greece is the world's 55th largest economy, at $317.455 billion per annum. The canned food and beverages market of Greece has seen substantial growth, though the country has been going through a lot of rough patches in its economy. This growth has affected directly to the importation of aluminium cans to the nation. The aluminium cans importation of Greece during 2017-19 has been recorded with a total import volume of 10,678 tonnes and the expenditure stood at $51.25 million. The estimated import volume for 2020 has been analysed at 5390 tonnes and the expenditure might stretch to $23.44 million. However, when the analysed...
The UK’s English sparkling wine brand The Uncommon has expanded its product portfolio with the launch of bubbly wines and spritzers in aluminium can. The company has added these two new ranges to their line up - Alfie, an English White Wine Spritzer, and Peggy, an English Rosé Wine Spritzer. The sleek and single-serve aluminium cans are infinitely recyclable and lightweight. It delivers a carbon footprint that’s 80% lighter than glass. The Uncommon aims to be the most sustainable wine brand in the UK. Henry Connell, co-founder of The Uncommon said: “The UK wine industry is booming, with a record 13M bottles produced in 2019 and no sign of this trajectory slowing down. With people choosing to shop more locally and England now the most exciting region in the sparkling wine world, there’s...
Design studio Miniwiz, together with Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan Design Research Institute (TDRI), and Fu Jen Catholic University Hospital, has built a prototype modular ward for hospitals using recycled aluminium panels, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Named Modular Adaptable Convertible (MAC), the prototype has been built to adapt to the high market demand, which can quickly transform buildings or under-utilised space into various types of wards. The modular units can be assembled either inside existing buildings or on land adjacent to hospitals. They are designed to be an alternative temporary ward where COVID-19 patients can be treated. "As the Covid-19 pandemic spreads globally, the demand for medical and hospital wards have also skyrocketed," said Miniwiz....
A00 aluminium ingot price climbed by RMB 110 per tonne or 0.82 per cent from Wednesday’s price of RMB 13390 per tonne, after two days of decrease. The price now stood at RMB 13500 per tonne today and is expected to move within a range of RMB 13480-13520 per tonne. Spot aluminium contract is likely to be traded at a premium of RMB 90-130 per tonne. In Foshan and Wuxi, the price inched up by RMB 120 per tonne and RMB 110 per tonne to stand at RMB 13500 per tonne each. Their average prices are expected to range within RMB 13480-13520 per tonne and RMB 13490-13510 per tonne. Aluminium prices in Hangzhou and Chongqing came in at RMB 13510 per tonne and 13500 per tonne, up RMB 90 per tonne and RMB 100 per tonne. Aluminium ingot prices in Shenyang, Tianjin, Linyi, and Gongyi rose to stand at RMB...
Denis Mazerolle, The President of Nature Alu has built a dream team to produce the only high-purity aluminium plant in North America. In doing so in Quebec, Canada, he and his partners are developing a Canada-Europe supply chain in a sector with very high added value. Mazerolle has industry experience of around 32 years working with Alcan and then with Rio Tinto and never looked out for retirement. He is now 56 years and with his former colleague Luc Boivin, they challenged themselves to produce 99.99% pure aluminium in Quebec. High-purity aluminium is highly demanded by capacitor manufacturers, as well as by lithium-ion battery manufacturers, which are used in smartphones, as well as electric cars. The manufacturers of the powder used in speciality 3D printers are also very fond of pure...
The US dollar eased further on Wednesday, June 3, while stocks on Wall Street posted yet another robust day, as better-than-expected economic data bolstered optimism over the recovery from coronavirus-led shutdowns, which outweighed brewing US-China tensions and widespread protests in the US. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback against a basket of major currencies, fell for the seventh straight day and plumbed the lowest since March 12 at 97.1882. Three-month LME aluminium notched a new 10-week peak of US$ 1,570 per tonne in Northern American trading hours on Wednesday, before closing up 0.42 per cent at US$ 1,565.5 per tonne. Doubts over whether demand recovery overseas could justify the recent rally in aluminium prices will keep market sentiment in check, and the contract is...
Hindalco Industries Ltd has continued to cut prices of its aluminium ingots, billets and wire rods by 1%.This marked the second consecutive cut in price of the same products. With effect from June 3, the price for Hindalco aluminium ingots now stands at INR 131,500 per tonne, a decrease of 1.13% or INR 1,500 per tonne from INR 133,000 per tonne on June 1. The company is now selling its wire rods and billets at INR 142,600 per tonne and INR 138,600 per tonne with effect from Wednesday, 03 June 2020. That was down 1.04% or INR 1,500 per tonne and 1.07% or INR 1,500 per tonne from June 1. The Indian aluminium producers generally link prices of its products to the three-month futures of aluminium on London Metal Exchange. The three-month futures of aluminium are down nearly 16% so far in 2020...
Tesla has reportedly submitted for a patent for a new, more effective cooling process aimed at increasing the strength, rigidity, and energy absorption of aluminium alloy components. The patent entitled “System and Method for Facilitating Pulsed Spray Quench of Extruded Objects” describes a new quenching process that would involve a multi-way spray nozzle system to cool extruded aluminium with an atomised spray of liquid. “A system includes a billet die at a proximal end configured to accept a billet and form an extrudate, a quench chamber located adjacent to the billet die for receiving the extrudate and comprising at least one pulsed width modulation (PWM) atomizing spray nozzle and a control module in communication with the at least one PWM atomizing spray nozzle and configured to...
Nampak announced interim financial results for the 6 months ended 31 march 2020. The group’s revenue dropped by 17% to R6.5 billion, primarily due to weaker economic conditions in South Africa, Angola and Zimbabwe. Operating profit was R287 million, down 68%. Trading profit declined 39% to R633 million, as a result of a loss in Divfood, reduced demand in Angola and the overall beverage can market declining in South Africa. Erik Smuts, Nampak CEO, said, “Overall weaker economic demand in our key markets, continued pressure on consumers’ disposable income and net impairments of R3bn negatively impacted these results. Although the Nigerian outlook has since deteriorated, Bevcan Nigeria enjoyed volume growth, but Divfood, Bevcan Angola and Bevcan SA performed below expectations due to total...
Vedanta’s Alumina Refinery at Lanjigarh has boosted its precautionary measures against COVID-19 as per the guidelines of the Government and the health authorities. The plant continues to operate, securing fidelity to strict COVID-19 guidelines issued by the central and state authorities. After the recent identification of some positive cases in the adjoining areas, Vedanta Lanjigarh has increased the imposition of its arrangements for safeguarding employees and associate partners against COVID-19. However, the entry into the plant premises is highly regulated and prohibited without due thermal scanning and soon will also utilize the Aarogya Setu app for further strengthening the process. All employees and workers are strictly mandated to wear relevant PPE and individual masks all the...
Altech Chemicals Limited has publicized an update on the status of activities at the Company’s high purity alumina (HPA) site in Johor Bahru, Malaysia that construction activities have now resumed. In response to the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Malaysian government enforced a Movement Control Order (MCO) effective 18 th March’20, for an initial period of 30 days. The MCO resulted in the closure of all non-essential government and private business premises, and consequently the suspension of all construction works and closure of Altech’s HPA plant site at Tanjung Langsat. Subsequently, the MCO was extended on four occasions and is currently in effect until 9 th June’20. However, the Malaysian government recently announced a relaxation of MCO restrictions under a revised...
According to a recent report, a global aluminium producer has asked for a premium of $85 per tonne from Japanese buyers for primary metal shipments during the September quarter of 2020. This is 3.7 per cent higher than the current quarter premium, reported three sources directly involved in quarterly pricing talks on Monday, June 1. For the April-June quarter, Japanese buyers agreed to pay a premium of $82 per tonne, down 1.2 per cent from the prior quarter and the lowest since the October-December quarter in 2016. A year ago, top aluminium producers had sought a premium of $115-120 per tonne from Japanese buyers for the September quarter, up 10 to 14 per cent from $105 per tonne of premium agreed for the June quarter. The above data represents that the premium offered for the September...
UK beverage company The Naked Collective will launch a new range of premium health drinks in infinitely recyclable 33cl sleek aluminium cans from Ardagh Group. Ardagh’s tall, slender aluminium can was manufactured in the UK. The packaging was developed in partnership with Ardagh’s UK Graphics team. “The team at Ardagh have been outstanding,” said The Naked Collective Founder Niall Phelan. “The level of support, responsiveness and the general feeling that we are working with a true partner has made the entire process fun. So, as we extend our range and expand our market, we’re delighted Ardagh will be our partner on that journey.” Dirk Schwung, Sales Director at Ardagh Group’s European Metal Beverage Business Unit, said: “We’re proud to have helped The Naked Collective develop this...
The industrial revolution on the European continent began in Belgium. Thus everything was in place for boosting the coal and steel industries in both areas. Other reasons for its industrialization came from its geography. Its proximity to Britain and its strong trading relationship with her allowed new technologies to subsequently arrive in Belgium. Belgium’s bauxite import market reflected an abrupt downfall majorly during 2017-19, as the total import volume only stood at 131,063 tonnes and the revenue expenditure was recorded at $34.29 million. The bauxite import for 2020 has been analysed has with a rapid downfall, as the volume would remain only to 20,761 tonnes, with Y-o-Y reduced volume of 14,262 tonnes and the expenditure also dropped to $6.19 million. However, when the predicted...
Constellium has signed a multi-year contract with Airbus for the supply of advanced aluminium rolled and extruded products, including wing skin panels, sheets for fuselage panels, and rectangular and pre-machined plates for structural components. The new 10-year agreement supports all Airbus programs. The new 10-year agreement supports all Airbus programs. Constellium will supply products from its plants in Issoire and Montreuil-Juigné, France, and Ravenswood, West Virginia, USA. “This agreement strengthens the long-standing partnership between Constellium and Airbus and further demonstrates the leadership role that Constellium holds in the market for advanced aluminium products and solutions,” said Jean-Marc Germain, CEO of Constellium. “We look forward to working with Airbus to continue...
New Day Aluminum Holdings LLC has announced that it has appointed John Habisreitinger as Chief Operating Officer, who would be responsible for the global operations of New Day’s business. New Day Aluminum Holdings LLC is the parent company of Noranda Bauxite, Noranda Alumina, and NICHE Industrial Chemicals. Mr Habisreitinger comes with over 30 years of industry experience in the aluminium and alumina sectors. He was earlier associated with New Day Aluminum as Executive Vice President and then with NICHE Industrial Chemicals as President. Prior to that, he was the President of Noranda Alumina LLC. He also held senior-level positions with Kaiser Aluminum, Norandal, and Noranda. Mr Habisreitinger graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University and completed an MBA from the University of New...
CLAFIS Ingenious is nominated as the permanent supplier of engineering services for Damco Aluminum Delfzijl Cooperative (Aldel) in the coming years. CLAFIS and Aldel have set foot into a structural agreement that will run at least up to the end of 2022. The projects carried out under the direction of the engineering bureau include feasibility studies, concept engineering assignments, basic engineering, detail engineering and assignments in the field of implementation, environment and permits. Aldel aluminium smelter in the Oosterhorn industrial area near Farmsum in Delfzijl was put into operation by the then Royal Blast Furnaces in 1966. Aldel is the last company in the Netherlands to make aluminium. The craft factory had some difficult years. Under the leadership of a new investor, the...
The US dollar eased further on Tuesday. The dollar index, which gauges the greenback against a basket of major currencies, fell for a sixth straight day and plumbed the lowest since March 13 at 97.4335. LME aluminium climbed 1.4% and SHFE aluminium inched up 0.3%. Three-month LME aluminium climbed in Northern American trading hours on Tuesday. It ended at a 10-week peak of US$1,559 per tonne, up 1.37% on the day. As of Tuesday June 2, LME aluminium cash (bid) price stands at US$ 1499.50 per tonne, LME official settlement price stands at US$ 1499.50 per tonne; 3-months bid price stands at US$ 1529 per tonne, 3-months offer price is US$ 1529 per tonne; Dec 21 bid price stands at US$ 1645 per tonne, and Dec 21 offer price stands at US$ 1645 per tonne. The LME aluminium opening stock stood at...
