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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The Aluminum Association recently released the 2017 version of Aluminum in Green Buildings – A Guide to Environmental Declarations for the building and construction market. The new guidelines describe how life cycle assessments (LCA) and environmental product declarations (EPD) are awarded for green building credits in major rating systems, says the Association. Heidi Brock, President & CEO of the Aluminum Association said: “Our industry is committed to utilizing aluminum’s many benefits to advance sustainability efforts in the building and construction sector. The guide’s updates will help stakeholders in every stage of the process make informed decisions regarding environmental declarations as well as what aluminum can bring to the process.” The new guide features information including...
Australian Bauxite Limited has announced the finalisation of a Heads of Agreement (HoA) with technology provider Refined Ore Industries Limited (ROIL) for its ALCORE project. The project which aims at developing a bauxite beneficiation and refining technology to produce aluminium fluoride from bauxite now enters an important phase with this agreement. ABx has been working in close association with ROIL for the commercial and technological development of the bauxite beneficiation and refining technology over the past 3 years. Later it was offered the licence by ROIL for bauxite processing. However the license is based on the following terms: 1. Exclusive global rights for the refining of bauxite, to produce Aluminium Fluoride (AlF3), and coproduct oxides of aluminium, silicon, iron,...
Spot Alumina prices are on a downward curve after staying flat since the last week of October, following downtrend in aluminium. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, average spot alumina price in China has dropped from RMB 3719/t on November 10 to RMB 3701/per tonne on November 13. SMM expects the spot prices to test support at RMB 3701 per tonne today. Domestic spot alumina prices have also dropped to RMB 3655/t from RMB 3670/t. Domestic prices are expected range within RMB 3550 – 3760 per tonne today. Alumina price from large scale alumina enterprises remains unchanged since October last and stands at RMB 3770/t today and expected to range within RMB 3,690- 3,850/t today. In the imported alumina market also, average price stands unchanged at RMB 3750/tonne. Today’s spot alumina prices...
Concluding this year’s three-day Arab International Aluminium Conference & Exhibition (ARABAL), 200 delegates toured Sohar Aluminium’s facilities to get a first-hand look at the company’s ever growing production capacity, cutting-edge technology, environmental stewardship, and rigorous safety standards. Sohar Aluminium is Oman’s first Greenfield smelter and the fourth largest primary aluminium manufacturer in the Middle East and North Africa. Sohar Aluminium has reinforced its position as the leader of Oman’s metals and expanding industrial sector, attracting international investment to the Sultanate and successfully trading across the globe. Delegates praised the high level of transparency demonstrated by a team of experts from Sohar Aluminium who explained each stage of the aluminium...
A press release from Bureau du Québec à Mumbai confirms that a delegation of four Quebec aluminium companies and AluQuebec, the apex business cluster of Quebec in the Aluminium sector is in India for the period from 9th to 15th November 2017 to meet Indian aluminium majors and to discuss new business opportunities with the fast growing economy. The four companies having expertise in technologies for primary processing of Alumina and aluminium are Advanced Dynamics, Equibras Inc, Stas and Solutions Fonderie Services Métallurgiques Inc . They would like to meet the leaders of Indian aluminium industry and identify possibilities of working together after understanding the requirements of the aluminium industry. The delegation consists of the following executives: Mr. Francois Audet, Director...
LME aluminium slid below US$2,100 per tonne mark last week due to subdued demand and strong dollar. The light metal contract ended slightly higher on Friday, November 10, at US$2,090 per tonne, rising from US$2,078 per tonne on November 9. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium may end this bounce around a resistance at US$2,125 per tonne, and then retrace its current lows. A drop around US$2,097.50 per tonne could indicate at a further extension of the downtrend towards US$2,046, while a break above US$2,125 per tonne could lead to a gain to US$2,148 per tonne in the near term. As on November 10, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,089 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,090 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is...
According to a Reuters report, LME aluminium showed some upward movement on Friday and was on a positive territory, the metal is set to face the worst week since May 2016 from Monday. The fall is primarily driven by growing aluminium output in China despite the capacity cut plans and execution. Speculative investment flows subsided on caution over less than expected Chinese capacity cuts. Benchmark aluminium bid price on the London Metal Exchange was at USD 2,089 and offer price was at USD2090 a tonne. The metal fell to its lowest since Sept. 15 on Thursday at USD 2,078. “In China, it looks like the actual policy translation is not as strong as initially expected,” said ETF Securities’ Nitesh Shah. He added that smelters were not cutting as much capacity as initially expected. The market...
Global aluminium producers are likely to experience solid financial recoveries in the year ahead, following years of financial austerity, as prices remain elevated, global research firm BMI said on Tuesday. This would result in targeted acquisitions of specific, value-added aluminium producers and a modest uptick in spending, the firm added. BMI noted, however, that owing to a government-led push for consolidation in China and overleveraged Western firms looking to offload assets, the rising value and quantity of international aluminium merger and acquisition (M&A) activity will face regulatory headwinds. Deals are set to increasingly run into regulatory setbacks, as the Chinese government looks to contain rising debt in the economy and the US government prioritises domestic production...
Aleris Corporation today reported results for Q3 and first nine months ended September 30, 2017. The company reported net loss of $66 million compared to net loss of $22 million in Q3 2016. Adjusted EBITDA stands at $46 million compared to $53 million in Q3 2016. Operational cash stood at $43 million compared $2 million in Q3 2016. Lower volumes decreased adjusted EBITDA approximately $8 million. The volume reduction was primarily due to the scheduled outage at the Lewisport hot mill in connection with the North America auto body sheet ("ABS") project, destocking in the aerospace supply chain and delayed launches of automotive programs. Improved rolling margins, favourable metal spreads resulting from increased aluminium prices and improved scrap availability in North America increased...
This year’s Asian Mining Congress was inaugurated in Kolkata, India, on November 8. Organized by the Mining Geological and Metallurgical Institute of India (MGMI) and attended by over 800 delegates from all over the world, the event will be held till November 10. The theme of the Congress this year was “International Cooperation in Innovative Technology for growth of Mineral Industry”. Image Courtesy: www.indiablooms.com Susheel Kumar, Secretary, Ministry of Coal, Government of India who inaugurated the Congress on Wednesday, said, “Future of the mining sectors will be in danger if correct measures not taken to protect the environment. We must modulate our behaviour and mining activities in such a way that the mining sector sustain longer.” “Safety of workers should be given top priority...
Expromet Technologies Group Ltd recently acquired Haworth Castings Ltd, a family owned aluminium and copper based castings foundry and machining facility in Romsey and Basingstoke, Hampshire. Investacast, a subsidiary of Expromet Technologies Group, announced the acquisition of Haworth Castings. Investacast said that the transaction was completed on 31st October 2017. The acquisition will give customers a wider choice of engineering solutions beyond the range of investment castings, forgings and pressure die castings currently provided by Investacast. Alistair Schofield, Chief Executive of Expromet Technologies , commented: "Haworth Castings enjoys an excellent reputation it its key markets and, by operating as part of a larger group, customers of both businesses will now be able to...
Aluminium products demand in Oman is going to stay strong, industry experts who congregated at the recently ended Arab International Aluminium Conference (ARABAL) 2017 expressed their confidence putting at rest fears of weakening demand from the country’s construction sector. The GCC construction sector is the largest consumer of domestically produced aluminium extrusions. Yet, aluminium bar rods and profiles import by Oman has been rising on per year basis. The trend is expected to continue over the medium term. According to available export-import data, Oman imported 22150.5 tonnes of aluminium bar rods and profiles in 2016. The figure represented a drop from the previous year’s import volume when it reached 25827 tonnes. In 2017, the aluminium bar rods and profiles import is again...
Spot Alumina prices drops for the first time after staying flat since the last week of October, following downtrend in aluminium. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, average spot alumina price in China has dropped from RMB 3730/t to RMB 3719 per tonne on November 10. SMM expects the spot prices to move within a range of RMB 3719 – 3719 per tonne today. Domestic spot alumina prices have also dropped to RMB 3670/t after hovering at RMB 3685/t since October 24. Domestic prices are expected range within RMB 3570 – 3770 per tonne today. As reported by Platts, Shanxi based refiners are of the view that lower metal prices means traders will dump even more now, they will all rush to take profits. Since winter cuts are now confirmed the drop in alumina prices will not last long. A refiner in...
LPW Technology Ltd, a supplier of high quality metal powders and software solutions for additive manufacturing industry, announced a partnership with AIRBUS APWORKS GmbH for the supply of Scalmalloy aluminium-magnesium-scandium alloy to the additive manufacturing sector. Ben Ferrar, LPW’s Chief Operating Officer said: “Expanding our metal powder range to include Scalmalloy, with its high strength, lightweight characteristics, enables manufacturers to access the technological and commercial benefits this proven metal AM alloy has to offer.” Scalmalloy is the world’s first material specifically developed for additive manufacturing. This material is best suited for aerospace, transportation and defence applications, among many others. The companies will support the global requirements for...
LME aluminium after having risen to US$2,188 per tonne in a month has caught on a down trend. Due to subdued demand in China and a more or less plateaued consumption in rest of the world, the light metal has given up its gain and gradually heading towards US$2,046 per tonne support. From US$2,103.50 per tonne on Wednesday, November 8, it came down to close at US$2,078 per tonne on Thursday, November 9. There are high possibilities that LME aluminium will break below the support at US$2,046 per tonne and head for further losses in the near term. As on November 9, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,077.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,078 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,091.50 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,092...
According to aluminium recycling statistics published by the U.S. Geological Survey and Department of Interior, the U.S. aluminium industry purchased an estimated 370,000 tonnes of aluminium scrap during August 2017, down 1.3% from the August 2016 total of 375,000 million. USGS estimates that recovery of aluminium and aluminium alloys totaled 337,500 tonnes, slightly more than the amount in July 2017, slightly less than that in August 2016. But the amount was 7% more than in August 2015. Out of the total scrap recovery in August 2017, 173,000 tonnes of aluminium was recovered from new scrap, slightly more than the amount in July 2017 and August 2016. Recovery from old scrap was 134,000 tonnes, slightly more than the amount in July 2017 and 3% less than the amount in August 2016. Through...
The European aluminium industry regrets that the Commission missed the opportunity to stop penalising lightweighting while it is essential for decarbonising mobility. The proposed regulation for post-2020 CO2 emission standards for cars and vans unfortunately still bases the targets on the mass of the vehicles. Lighter cars and vans use less fuel and emit fewer emissions. Lightweighting vehicles using light materials like aluminium can therefore help to decouple growth in transport demand from an increase in CO2 emissions. European legislation, however, still penalises the use of lightweighting by using a flawed methodology in its proposed revision of the regulation on CO2 emission targets for cars and vans. Under the proposed regulation, heavier cars would still be allowed to emit more...
The overall recycling rate for aluminium beverage cans in Europe (EU 28 + EFTA) increased by 1.6% to a new record level of 72.9% in 20141, a press release from European Aluminium confirms. European Aluminium considers this result an important milestone on its path towards the future split aluminium recycling target of 75% for 2025, proposed by the European Union in its Circular Economy package. On the whole European continent (including other East-European countries, Russia and Turkey) nearly 30 billion cans have been recycled. This means that every second an aluminium beverage can is being recycled somewhere in Europe! Their metal stays in the European circular economy and remains available for the production of new aluminium products. Recycling aluminium takes 95% less energy than...
