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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LME aluminium slid further down. With the price support from two of aluminium’s key raw materials coal and alumina weakening, the light metal is unable to reverse the downtrend, even when aluminium stocks in LME warehouses are declining. On the other hand, demand growth has slowed down. All these factors are expected to weigh on LME aluminium prices in the near term. As on November 21, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,060 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,062 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,078 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,080 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,125 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,130 per tonne. LME aluminium Opening Stock or the LME aluminium inventory level stands at 1141700 tonnes,...
On November 17, 2017, Real Industry and its U.S. subsidiaries have filed for voluntary bankruptcy. The company also confirmed that they received interim approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for all of the “first day” motions related to their filings. The secondary aluminium producer expects to continue with its operations with grants from the Court on an interim basis. The grant gives authority to the Company and Real Alloy to make payments to suppliers and service providers as well as to pay employees wages, salaries and benefits during its reorganization effort under Chapter 11. Real Alloy expects to get approval for $110-million asset-based lending facility and up to $85 million through debtor-in-position (DIP) financing. These funds - combined with income generated from ongoing...
Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Berhad, the largest aluminium smelter and extruder in South East Asia, reported its financial performance for nine months ended 30 September 2017. The company said in a press release that they are now targeting to increase contribution of value-added products from 30 per cent to 50 per cent by end 2018. The company’s cumulative nine months core profit increased 57.3 per cent to RM452.6 million, from RM287.7 million a year ago due to additional production output generated by its Samalaju Phase 2 smelting plant and higher metal price. Tan Sri Paul Koon, Group Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We are encouraged by our continued growth year-on-year while operating in rising cost environment. We expect to benefit from the current higher metal price moving...
SPIROL is pleased to introduce a high performance line of Molded-in Inserts for Plastics manufactured from aluminum. The robust design of the Series 60 Blind-End and Series 61 Through-Hole Inserts consists of axial grooves to maximize torque resistance, balanced with radial undercuts to achieve high-pull out force. These Molded-in Inserts are designed to be placed in the mold cavity prior to plastic injection, and offer exceptional performance due to unrestricted plastic flow into the retention features on the outside diameter of the Inserts. These lightweight Threaded Inserts for Plastics are manufactured from 2024 grade aluminum which provides the best combination of strength, corrosion resistance, machineability and cost. The Series 60 and Series 61 Molded-In Inserts are lead free, 40%...
Arconic announced Monday that it will install a new horizontal heat treat furnace at its Davenport Works facility in Iowa. Heat treatment is a step in the production of high-strength product intended for large aerospace and industrial applications. The construction on the $137 million furnace project is expected to start late this year with commercial production expected to commence in 2019. The furnace will allow the company to heat treat longer and thicker plate than ever before, including material for company’s recently installed Thick Plate Stretcher. Arconic said that the “need for thick aluminium plate is growing, particularly as demand for composite wings, made with monolithic thick plate wing ribs, increases”. Tim Myers, President, Global Rolled Products and Transportation and...
AlCircle’s new report- Growing Consumption of Aluminium Rolled Products in Automotive Industry 2017, is grabbing industry’s attention. From renowned aluminium companies having integrated downstream operations, automotive aluminium rolled product suppliers, consultancies, and research bodies to automation engineering service providers- everyone is showing interest in the report and metrics used therein. Some of the biggest names in the aluminium value chain have even already even subscribed for it. Encompassing a wide purview of factors, the automotive aluminium rolled product report promises to provide a deep insight into the changing dynamics of global automotive material market. What does AlCircle Special Focus on Growing Consumption of Aluminium Rolled Products in Automotive Industry...
According to the data released by the International Aluminium Institute (IAI) and published by Shanghai Metals Market, the daily average primary aluminium production excluding China increased in October against September. The production increased to 70,300 tonnes in October 2017 compared to 70,000 tonnes in September 2017. Global production of primary aluminium outside China was 2.179 million tonnes in October, from 2.1 million tonnes in September. In China, the daily average aluminium production reduced to 82,100 tonnes in October, from 86,900 tonnes in September. China churned out 2.54 million tonnes of primary aluminium in October, from 2.606 million tonnes in September.
According to the latest foreign trade data from Aluminum Association, as derived from the U.S. Bureau of the Census, despite two consecutive drops month-on-month, U.S. aluminium imports were still up 25% YTD through September in comparison to the same period of 2016. Domestic shipments of can stock have registered a rise in October while foil shipment dropped in the same month. Shipments of can stock by domestic producers stood at 337.1 million pounds during October 2017, an increase of 8.7% YoY. On a month on month comparison, shipments rose 4.3% over the September 2017 revised total of 323.1 million pounds. YTD shipments through October 2017 stood at 3,406.2 million pounds, down 2.6% from the 2016 YTD total of 3,495.8 million pounds. Compared to October 2016, producer shipments of can...
ABB Ability cloud-based solutions combined with the ABB Stressometer Flatness Control Systems enables up to 40 percent improvement of strip flatness at Gränges, a global leader for rolled products including strips for heat exchangers. High performing flatness measurement and control is a critical success factor for flat rolling mills. Building on 50 years of experience in flatness control ABB now applies the latest technology in electronics, computing, modeling and cloud technology to create a holistic approach to strip flatness control in rolling mills. This approach includes measurement and control of process variables in the actual rolling mill and in the up-stream and down-steam processes. A new patented Stressometer technology for Controlled post rolling flatness (CPRF) is now...
A00 ingot price has experienced the biggest drop in recent time today when the average price stood at RMB 14,860/t. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, the primary ingot price registered a drop of RMB 250/t. The price is expected to range within RMB 14,840 – 14,880 per tonne. Aluminium price has been surging throughout 2017. The price rise was so far driven by supply-side reforms in China and environmental restrictions. On the other hand, increase in the price of prime raw materials like alumina and coal was another factor supporting the growth in aluminium price. As per SMM data, average full production cost of domestic refined aluminium enterprises in November 2017 is RMB 16,033 per tonne, up 4.5 on yearly basis. However, the recent downturn in aluminium price is mostly driven by drop...
Aluminium can export from UK is slated to witness a significant drop in 2017, after a gradual year-on-year decline since 2015. The largest beverage can market in Europe- UK reached 70 per cent aluminium beverage can recycling rate milestone in 2016. At a time when the country is endeavouring to make the European metal packaging sector's ambition of reaching and exceeding an average 80 per cent metal rate by 2025, this drop in export volume is somewhat baffling. Global export-import data shows, UK’s aluminium can export took a huge leap from 9565 tonnes in 2014 to 38,742 tonnes in 2015. Since then, export volume has been dropping. Last year, aluminium can export totalled 36629 tonnes, down 5.45 per cent year-on-year. It is estimated that UK will export 27508 tonnes of aluminium cans in...
Noble Group, who acquired interest in Jamalco refinery from Alcoa in 2014, is considering the sale of Jamalco alumina refinery. According to news reported by Bloomberg, Global commodities company Noble Group sits down with shareholders this week for crisis talks to restructure about $3.5 billion in debt, and the refinery is expected to play a crucial role in managing the debt. Jamalco is a joint venture between Noble Group and Clarendon Alumina Production (CAP). In December 2014, Noble Group bought 55 percent stake of Jamalco and remaining 45 percent is owned by Clarendon Alumina Production Ltd. (CAP). As per Bloomberg report, alumina refinery is likely to be the company’s most valuable remaining physical asset after the sale of its global oil and gas trading businesses. However, the...
Currently Aditya Birla Group remains the largest aluminium producer in India with a total combined capacity of 1.32 million tonne of aluminium by Aditya Aluminium and Hindalco. However, Vedanta is on the right track to touch 1.6 million tonne capacity mark this year surpassing Hindalco. Vedanta has recently reported record half yearly production of 753,000 tonnes, up 39% YoY. This was attributed to continued smelter ramp-up in Balco and Jharsuguda. The company reports a current run-rate of 1.6 tpy (excluding trial run production). The company, which produced 1.21 million tonne of aluminium across its two facilities in Jharsuguda and Korba in FY2017, is on course to clock an annual output of 1.6 million tonne this year. "As a group, we will be producing 1.6 million tonne of aluminium in...
LME aluminium is extending its declines. With the downward tendency of alumina and coal prices already setting in across China market, the light metal is unable to draw support and reverse the downtrend. From US$2,077 per tonne on November 17, LME aluminium has dropped further to US$2,067.50 per tonne after night trading on Monday, November 20. LME aluminium stocks are falling in tandem as well. This could affect regional aluminium premiums and spreads, market sources opine. Most of the global participants are of the view that there was room for further fall for LME aluminium in the near term. As on November 20, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,067 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,067.50 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is...
According to the Aluminum Association’s annual key performance indicators report for one of the widely used consumer products – the aluminium can, U.S. UBC recycling rate reported a decline in 2016. The indicators included Industry Recycling Rate, which measures the amount of used aluminium can scrap recycled by U.S. aluminium producers as a percentage of total can shipment. Another indicator is Consumer Recycling Rate measuring the amount of aluminium can scrap recycled domestically as a percentage of cans available for recycling in the U.S. The rate indicates the performance of municipal recycling programs and is also dependent on YoY fluctuations in metal flows and commodity prices. For the industry recycling rate, the Association surveyed UBC melting facilities including can sheet...
AB Glass, one of the UK’s leading architectural aluminium manufacturers and installers, has secured a contract for the installation of aluminium systems for Welsh school project in Neath Port Talbot. Nigel Harvey, Operations Director of AB Glass, said: “We are thrilled to be working with Dawnus on this innovative project at Ysgol Gyfun Ystalyfera. The redevelopment of the school is very positive for the community and we are proud to be a part of this. We look forward to seeing the completed project during September next year.” AB Glass manufactures aluminium products at its head office and production facility. The company utilises state of the art machinery which includes CNCs, automated mitre saws, bead saws, crimping machines and end millers. AB Glass has been appointed by Dawnus, an...
Keeping the tradition alive, the Wisconsin Historical Museum once again presented “Ever Gleaming: The Enduring Love Affair with the Aluminum Christmas Tree” exhibition starting on Black Friday, Nov. 24 and Jan. 13, 2018. “These aluminum trees appealed to a space-age notion of modern living,” notes Mike Hollander, interim director of the Wisconsin Historical Museum. “No need to travel out to the tree lot or worry about needles falling onto the carpet; these shiny trees were an expression of the new age of modern living where life was clean, automated and easy.” The guests in the exhibition could actually relive history and experience nostalgia with the aluminium Christmas trees, which were popular in the 1960s. The exhibit includes over two dozen different aluminium Christmas trees in...
Both alumina and aluminium prices are on a downward trend after actual winter cuts have started in China. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, average spot alumina price in China stands at RMB 3558/t on November 20, a further drop from RMB 3593/t on November 17. SMM expects the spot prices to stay within RMB 3558 per tonne today. Domestic spot alumina prices have dropped further to RMB 3545/t today from RMB 3565/t on November 17. Domestic prices are expected to range within RMB 3470 – 3620 per tonne today. Today’s spot alumina prices in the domestic markets are shown in the table below: Though Chalco alumina prices remain unchanged, imported alumina prices have registered a drop in China. Average imported alumina prices drop RMB 50/t for the first time to RMB 3700/t since mid-October....
