Getting a clean, smooth finish while removing material quickly is not always easy when machining high-strength aluminium alloys. A new study on AA7075-T6 aluminium alloy has explored this challenge, identifying two different sets of drilling conditions to improve surface quality and maximise machining productivity. The research examined how cutting speed, feed rate and drill depth influence conventional drilling performance. Using response surface methodology and a central composite design, the researchers developed predictive models to determine how changes in these parameters affect the machining process. The models showed a strong level of accuracy, with coefficients of determination (R²) reaching 0.9731 for surface roughness and 0.9359 for material removal rate. Further confirmation...
Cleaner aluminium depends on three things going right at once: scrap collection, melting it in a furnace without much carbon, and the electricity behind the whole chain not being coal-powered. Developments across North America, the UK, the European Union (EU), Egypt, Thailand, Malaysia and India depict how unevenly those pieces are falling into place. While some markets are losing recoverable metal at the sorting line, others are redirecting cargoes or writing scrap into industrial policy, and a few are lining up green projects to hold primary aluminium production together. Aluminium scrap trade: North America leads, Thailand bans, EU retains The international aluminium scrap market is facing a combination of changing trade flows and growing pressure to secure cleaner, more consistent...
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Spot Alumina prices in China are dropping steadily through November continuing in December, following the downtrend in aluminium. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, average spot alumina price in China has dropped from RMB 3370 per tonne on December 5 to RMB 3348 per tonne on December 6. Domestic spot alumina prices have also dropped to RMB 3330/t from RMB 3355/t since October 24. Domestic prices are expected range within RMB 3280 – 3380 per tonne today. Imported alumina prices and Chalco alumina prices remain unchanged despite the drop in domestic prices. The fall in domestic alumina prices can be seen in the following table. A00 ingot prices in China has plunged low from RMB 14,410/t on December 5 and stands at RMB 14,040/t today. In East China’s spot market aluminium is trading at a...
Government of Ghana is drafting a bill to be presented to parliament for the establishment of the Integrated Bauxite and Aluminium Development Authority, according to news published by citifmonline.com. Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President of Ghana, made the announcement at the ongoing Regional Forum on the extractive industry in Ghana, co-sponsored by the Government of Ghana and the Uongozi Institute, which is under the office of the President of Tanzania. He said: “As we deliberated on this paradigm shift and were trying to make a break from the past, in drafting this new bill we thought it was very important to get the best minds across the continent and in the world to discuss the whole issue of value addition.” “The value of bauxite increases nearly six times of refined into...
The month of November was marked by lower LME aluminium prices and on the whole aluminum prices decreased by 5.6% during this month. Aluminum prices rallied since August 2017 and broke the resistance levels. However, despite the price declines in November, the early days of December is showing some improvement in price. After edging higher on Monday, November 4 closing at US$2,052.50 per tonne, the light metal contract closed at US$2,052 per tonne yesterday November 5. Analysts revised up their aluminium price forecast in Citi Annual Commodities Market Outlook 2018. Aluminium prices are expected to stay high due to skyrocketing oil prices as well as other raw materials like alumina. Analysts expect LME aluminium prices to remain well above US$2,000 per tonne range in the medium term. As...
The European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA), organisers of the Alufoil Trophy, have announced the closing date for the next competition has been extended to 15 December 2017. This is to enable as many companies as possible to prepare entries, which will be judged in January 2018. The Alufoil Trophy is the most prestigious competition recognizing excellence and innovation in aluminium foil, for resource efficiency, consumer convenience, technical innovation, product protection and marketing/design. Past winners have gone on to claim many other significant awards, such as WPO WorldStars. Entries can cover a single category, or be entered across several, increasing the chances to capture the most coveted award in the aluminium foil sector. At least one product will gain the highly prized...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), home-base of the Line 6 Expansion Project, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with General Electric (GE) to implement a fourth Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (GT) block using GE 9HA technology in the company’s Power Station (PS) 5. The fourth GT block will further increase the power efficiency and output of PS 5. This will strengthen Alba’s position as an environmentally responsible smelter. Alba’s CEO Tim Murray said: "We are proud that Alba is transforming power generation in the aluminium smelting industry by becoming the first smelter in the world to install the GE 9HA technology at PS 5. This cutting-edge technology will further align us with the goals of the Kingdom’s Economic Vision 2030.” The deal was signed by Alba's Chief Executive Officer,...
Kobe Steel Ltd’s Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) certification has been temporarily suspended at its aluminium extrusion plant in Chofu, western Japan, the company said in a statement on Tuesday, in the latest blow to the embattled steelmaker. Kobe Steel earlier had the certifications at its Hatano plant revoked for seamless copper pipe products used for air conditioning and refrigerators as well as for insulated copper tubing. Japan’s third-largest steelmaker, which supplies the manufacturers of cars, planes, trains and other industrial products across the world, has said that about 500 of its customers had received products with falsified specifications, in one of Japan’s biggest industrial scandals. The latest suspension would last until the aluminium plant improves its quality...
Mitsui O.S.K .Lines (MOL) has signed a five year bauxite transport contract with Alufer Mining Limited. Alufer is an independent mineral exploration and development company with significant bauxite assets in the Republic of Guinea. Alufer has received all required permission from the government of Guinea for building the Bel Air bauxite mine. The Bel Air mine has a JORC compliant resource of over 146mt of trihydrate bauxite with low reactive silica. The company is building an export facility which will enable the loading of Capesize vessels anchored 32km from the coast. The production is likely to start in the third quarter of 2018 and reach production of 5.5 million tonnes per annum. "MOL continues to take a proactive stance in providing safe, reliable and efficient transport of bauxite...
A consortium of the Societe Miniere de Boke (SMB) and Singapore’s Winning Shipping plans to build Guinea’s first alumina refinery in a $3 billion effort to develop the West African country’s bauxite industry, it said on Monday. Guinea has about a third of the world’s bauxite reserves and expects to produce over 30 million tonnes in 2017. However, it has no facilities to transform those reserves into higher-grade alumina, which can fetch higher prices on world markets. The project will include a 120 km (75 mile) railway connecting SMB’s bauxite mines in Boke to the refinery in Dapilon, which will process the raw material for export as alumina, mainly to China, SMB managing director Frederic Bouzigues told Reuters. Construction of the 1 million tonne per year refinery is due to start in...
Austria, the 31st largest exporter in the world, exported US$152.2 billion worth of goods in 2016. The country witnessed an increased in exports of aluminium foil in 2016. According to the Product Complexity Index (PCI), aluminium Foil is the 273rd most traded product and the 433rd most complex product. In 2016, Germany imported substantial amount of aluminium foil from the country. Austria exported an estimated 33700 tonnes of aluminium foil to Germany. Other notable importers of this commodity are Netherlands, Sweden, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the USA and many more. According to global trade data, Austria exported 118874 tonnes of aluminium foil in 2015. The total export was valued at US$730 million. In 2016, Austria exported an estimated 148021 tonnes of...
Ball Corporation has collaborated with leading sparkling water brand PERRIER to create limited edition can for the French and Belgium markets. The Perrier X Wild limited edition has seen a close collaboration between Ball and PERRIER to bring to life the colourful and vibrant designs created by rising Cuban artist, Juan Travieso. Sophie Vanhersecke, International Coordination & Packaging Manager at PERRIER said: “Ball was great in helping us to create a can that showcased the wild nature of PERRIER using Juan Travieso’s artwork.” “The new limited edition offering utilises Ball’s 25-centiliter Slim can, which further highlights the rise in brands exploring slimmer can options. Traditionally a popular choice amongst energy drink brands, the modern look of the Slim range is attracting a wide...
Aluminium alloy prices in major markets of China increased by RMB 50 per tonne after A00 aluminium ingot rose higher by RMB 18- per tonne on Tuesday, December 5. The rise in aluminium product prices in the primary and downstream sectors can be attributed to China’s Caixin PMI of service industry which showed 51.9 in November, setting new high since August, Shanghai Metals Market updated. The previous Caixin PMI of China’s service industry was 51.2. Caixin composite PMI shows 51.6 in November against the earlier figure of 51. Except Aluminium Alloy (West) price which remains unchanged at RMB 15,550 per tonne, all other categories across markets have increased. As updated by SMM, the average prices and price ranges of aluminium alloys in major China domestic markets are as follows: Unit:...
LME aluminium edged higher on Monday, November 4, after closing at US$2,046.50 per tonne on Friday, December 1. The light metal contract ended at US$2,052.50 per tonne yesterday. Analysts revised up their aluminium price forecast in Citi Annual Commodities Market Outlook 2018. They say LME aluminium prices will remain well above US$2,000 per tonne range in the medium term. Overall aluminium production cost will remain higher for longer supporting aluminium prices globally. As on December 4, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,052 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,052.50 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,070 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,070.50 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,118 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is...
India’s leading integrated aluminium producer National Aluminium Company Limited expects that it will sell around 6-7 lakh tonnes of alumina in the second half of the current fiscal ending March 3, 2018. Average alumina prices in the global market have corrected to US$512.13 from US$527 per tonne as on December 4. In a recent interview, Nalco CMD TK Chand said that the company was in a position to leverage the buoyant alumina prices in the medium term. The key raw material of aluminium smelting, alumina joined the uptrend in LME aluminium since September this year. According to Platts, alumina price index hit multiyear highs in early September. The rising alumina price index is good news for companies that produce alumina for their internal requirements and export to outside parties as...
The global mining and metals industry giant Rio Tinto Group has acknowledged China for boosting the use of aluminium cans in the carbonated beverage packaging sector. “In the packaging sector, especially around soft drinks and beer in China, we’re seeing a shift from glass to aluminum,” Rio Tinto Aluminium Chief Executive Officer Alf Barrios said in an interview recently. Aluminium demand will rise at a CAGR of 4 per cent over the next five years, and global consumption of refined metal- at 3-4 per cent per annum rate during 2018-2019, observed Barrios. With China implementing production cut policy, the price gains in the primary aluminium vertical will flow down the value chain thereby incentivizing Chinese packaging companies to add new capacity elsewhere. The shares of Chinese...
Russia’s En+ Group announced its financial and operational results for the three and nine months ended 30 September 2017. The group produced 2,762 thousand tonnes of aluminium in the first nine months of 2017. In 3Q 2017, aluminium production increased 1.2 per cent to 931 thousand tonnes, with Siberian smelters representing 94 per cent of total aluminium production. The Group’s net profit increased 43 per cent year-on-year to USD 350 million in Q32017. For the nine months of 2017, net profit increased 60 per cent to USD 898 million. In Q32017, revenue increased 17 per cent to USD 2,875 million. Revenue rose 21 per cent to USD 8,716 million in the first nine months of this year. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 41 per cent to USD803...
Global leader in the mining and metals sector, Rio Tinto has appointed Simon Thomson as chairman. Thompson, who succeeds Jan du Plessis will assume office on March 5, 2018. Rio senior independent director Ann Godbehere welcomed Thompson saying “The Rio Tinto board would like to thank Jan for his significant contribution as chairman of Rio Tinto. He led the board during considerable transformation of the company. Source: Rio Tinto Thompson has over 20 years’ of experience working across the global mining and metals industry. He worked for the Anglo American group from 1995 to 2007, holding a number of senior positions. His experience as a non-executive director includes serving on the boards of AngloGold Ashanti, Rusal and Newmont Mining Corporation. He joined Rio Tinto board as a...
China alumina spot prices are extending their declines. After registering a 8.4 per cent drop since its November highest of RMB 3730 per tonne till December 1 (RMB 3416 per tonne), the average alumina spot price has again dropped- this time to RMB 3390 per tonne. This RMB 26 per tonne drop can be attributed to the weakening demand at the Chinese aluminium smelters which have agreed to slash production during winter in support of the country's war against smog. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, Aluminium A00 ingot average price in China has fallen by RMB 80 per tonne to stand at RMB 14,230 per tonne as on December 4. Barring Aluminium (Chalco) and Alumina (Imported), the prices of alumina in China’s four major markets have declined by RMB 20-30 per tonne. The spot alumina prices in...
Slovenia exported US$32.9 billion worth of goods around the world in 2016. Aluminium scrap represents 1.5 per cent of the total exports of the country. Looking at the previous year, Slovenia’s aluminium scrap exports were lower than what they were in 2015. The top destinations of Slovenia aluminium scrap exports are Germany, Italy, Austria and Poland. China who is also one of the buyers of its products imported 469 tonnes of this commodity in the first ten months of this year. According to the recent estimate, in 2015, Slovenia exported 42518 tonnes of aluminium scrap globally. The total revenue from the export stood at US$ 54 million. The country exported an estimated 38242 tonnes of aluminium scrap and the revenue from the export was US$ 41 million in 2016. Slovenia is estimated to...
