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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Bosnia and Herzegovina is the 73rd largest importer in the world. The country’s imports of commodities increased at an annualized rate of 0.765%, from $10.9B in 2011 to $9B in 2016. Greece is the top supplier of alumina to the country. Other exporting countries to Bosnia and Herzegovina are France, Germany, Netherlands, China, and Turkey. The country is expected to witness a fall in alumina imports in 2017. According to latest statistics, Bosnia and Herzegovina imported about 172600 tonnes of alumina in 2016, up from 149940 tonnes a year ago. In 2017, the total alumina import volume is projected to decrease to 162634 tonnes. The cost of alumina import stood at USD 52 million in 2015. In 2016, the import generated a cost of USD 49 million. The cost of import for alumina in 2017 is...
Bauxite Resources Limited has published its response to the Off-Market Proportional Takeover Offer by Mercantile Investment Company Limited. The company has said in a release that it has come to know through an announcement to the Australian Securities Exchange dated 8 November 2017 that a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercantile Investment Company Limited, Mercantile OFM intends to make an unsolicited proportional takeover offer to purchase one of every two fully paid ordinary shares in Bauxite Resources. According to Bauxite Resources those shares are not yet owned by the company. The Board of Bauxite is currently considering its response to the Announcement. The shareholders are advised not to take any action regarding the announcement or any document received from Mercantile OFM in...
A00 ingot prices in China drop across all markets driven by poor consumption and increasing stock. The winter capacity cut has not been able to change the scenario substantially till date. As updated by Shanghai Metals Market, average A00 aluminium ingot price has dropped RMB 260/t from RMB 15,690/t on November 8 and stands at RMB 15,490/t today. A00 ingot prices have been hovering much below RMB 16,000/t mark for a long time. The drop in A00 ingot prices can be seen in the graph below: Aluminium alloy prices continue to drop in China keeping pace with steady drop in aluminium ingot prices. No new orders have been registered in November. In East China’s spot market aluminium is trading at a discount of RMB 50-10 per tonne. According to SMM the latest average price of Aluminum Alloys...
Can-Pack, the only aluminium beverage can producer in Romania, is planning a major investment in order to modernize its manufacturing facility in Romania. The fund will come from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The company will introduce innovative products and resource efficient technologies. EBRD said in a press release that the bank has subscribed to 40 million euro ($46 million) in 325 million euro unsecured seven-year corporate bonds issued by the company in 2016, reports seenews.com. Earlier reports indicated that the company decided to invest EUR 50 million in its second production line. The new line will start operating in February next year. Can-Pack Romania is owned by Can-Pack Group. Can-Pack Group is one of the most technologically advanced...
Norsk Hydro ASA announced on Tuesday that its fully owned subsidiary Hydro Energi AS entered into a long-term contract with Markbygden Ett AB to supply power to company's aluminium plants. Markbygden Ett AB, a Swedish wind power company, will provide an annual baseload supply of 1.65 TWh in the period from the beginning of 2021 to the end of 2039. Hydro said that this agreement will commence after the existing long-term power contract with Norwegian state utility Statkraft expires in 2020. “Markbygden Ett AB is developing an onshore wind park located west of Piteå, in the northern of Sweden, and is owned by GE Energy Financial Services and Green Investment Group Limited, part of Macquarie Group Limited,” Hydro said. “The wind park is a part of the larger Markbygden wind farm project...
LME aluminium, as projected, dropped to US$2,103.50 per tonne on Thursday, November 8, after testing support at US$2,148 per tonne. The light metal which closed at US$2,131 per tonne on Wednesday, November 7, has declined by 0.03 per cent till date from its latest high of US$2,188 per tonne on November 1. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium may break a support at US$2,081 per tonne. There is a possibility that the contract will break below this support level as well and fall further towards the next support at US$2,046 per tonne in the near term. Source: www.lme.com As on November 8, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,103 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,103.50 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,118...
Aluminium Bahrain B. S. C. (Alba) is a key participant in the 21st International Arab Aluminium Conference & Exhibition, ARABAL 2017, that is being hosted by Sohar Aluminium from 06 to 09 November 2017 at the Shangri-La Bar Al Jissah, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. Held under the Patronage of His Highness Sayyid Harib bin Thuwaini Al Said, Assistant Secretary General of the Council of Ministers for Conferences, Sultanate of Oman, the conference agenda is structured to focus on the “Driving Strategic Growth across the Global Aluminium Industry”. Held on Tuesday November 07, 2017, the opening ceremony of ARABAL 2017 was attended by Alba’s Chairman of Board of Directors, Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa and Alba’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tim Murray, Deputy Chief Executive Officer...
According to the latest report from Aluminium Association, aluminium net shipments including exports by domestic U.S. and Canadian facilities stood at an estimated 987500 tonnes during September, off 5.6 per cent from the September 2016 total of 1 million tonne. Shipments of aluminium mill products decreased 1 per cent to 670000 tonnes YoY. Shipments of aluminium ingot for castings, exports and destructive uses were off 14 per cent YoY to 635 million pounds. Through the first three quarters of 2017, preliminary producer shipments stood at 9 million tonnes, slightly more in comparison to the same period of 2016. September inventory levels stood at an estimated 1.5 million tonnes, up 1.6 per cent over the previous month and an increase of 7.2 per cent YoY. Domestic primary aluminium...
An industry leader in lightweighting, Shiloh Industries, Inc. was recently honored at the 2017 International Die Casting Design Competition with an Excellence Award for the development of an aluminum cast, overdrive gear carrier. The North American Die Casting Association (NADCA) recognized the structural integrity of Shiloh’s multi-functional, lightweight casting. The innovative design maintained strength and performance requirements, while reducing part weight by approximately 60% over steel, and eliminating an extensive secondary processing saving overall costs. “Utilizing aluminum over traditional ferrous sintered metals resulted in a significant mass savings in the transmission, which can increase efficiency and improve fuel economy in the vehicle,” said Don Carter, director,...
ASX-listed Mercantile Investment Company has announced its intention to make a proportional off-market takeover bid for half of fellow-listed Bauxite Resources as part of a plan to put cash back in shareholders’ pocket after a decade of “failed” exploration efforts. In a letter to Bauxite Resources shareholders, Mercantile detailed its planned offer of 9c a share for one of every two shares it did not already control, saying the price represented a 14% increase on the last sale price of Bauxite Resources shares. Mercantile explained on Wednesday that should it gain sufficient acceptances of the offer, the company would immediately make a 6c a share repayment to shareholders, and would terminate a joint venture between HD Mining & Investment and Bauxite Resources in Western Australia....
Aluminium prices were marginally higher by 0.18 per cent to INR 139.90 per kg in futures trade today as speculators created fresh positions amid improved demand in the spot market. At the Multi Commodity Exchange, aluminium for delivery in November inched up by 25 paise, or 0.18 per cent to INR 139.90 per kg in business turnover of 727 lots. Similarly, the metal for delivery in December traded higher by 20 paise, or 0.14 per cent to INR 140.45 per kg in 94 lots. Analysts said fresh positions built up by participants after uptick in demand from consuming industries in the physical market mainly influenced aluminium prices at futures trade.
As projected by Shanghai Metals Market yesterday, downstream aluminium producers have been prompted to reduce price of alloys to keep pace with steady drop in aluminium ingot prices caused by poor consumption and increasing stock. No new orders have been registered in November. According to SMM the latest average price of Aluminum Alloys (ADC12) dropped to RMB 16,400/t today on November 8 from RMB 16,500/t yesterday and expected to move within a range of RMB 16300 – 16500 per tonne. The drop in average prices of different grades of aluminium alloy can be seen in the following table. ADC12 aluminium alloy ingot and A380 aluminium alloy ingot have reported the maximum drop in prices. It is learnt that high-end ADC12 products are being offered at RMB 16,000 per tonne in the spot market....
Auto sales in South Korea's domestic market dropped in October on less business days, industry data showed last week. The number of car sales by five South Korean companies, including Hyundai, Kia, Renault Samsung, GM Korea and Ssangyong, totalled 112,729 in October, down 11 per cent from previous year. Light vehicles sales, a major market for automotive aluminium sheet, is also showing muted growth- a trend which is likely to impact LV production in the country and hence, the overall rolled aluminium product import. However, international trade data shows that aluminium plates, sheets and strips import by South Korea has increased year-on-year since 2014. From 76971 tonnes in 2014 the volume reached 211,411 tonnes in 2016. In 2017, aluminium plates, sheets and strips import is estimated...
LME aluminium is likely to enter consolidation before it rises again. The light metal contract upon testing a support at US$2,148 per tonne fell to US$2,131 per tonne after night trading on Tuesday, November 7. The earlier close was at US$2,152 per tonne on November 6. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium may break a support at US$2,125 per tonne and drop further to the next support at US$2,103 per tonne in the near term. As on November 7, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,130 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,131 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,150 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,150.50 per tonne, Dec1 Bid Price is US$2,195 per tonne, and Dec1 Offer Price is US$2,220 per tonne. LME aluminium...
UC RUSAL, a leading global aluminium producer, is pleased to announce that it will be supplying approximately 510 tonnes of aluminium to be used in the production of aluminium tram interiors. As part of the project, UC RUSAL will provide aluminium for a total of 300 tram interiors. This is the world’s largest contract to purchase trams for a single city. The field of urban transport engineering is a new sector for UC RUSAL and one which has significant growth potential in Russia. The new Vityaz-M trams, which contain three compartments whose interior is entirely made from aluminium, are produced by a Krasnoyarsk based machine-building components company. New trams are scheduled to be supplied to the Moscow transportation system in 2017-2019. RUSAL’s Krasnoyarsk Aluminium Smelter (KrAZ)...
Under the auspices of H.H. Sayyid Harib bin Thuwaini Al Said, Assistant Secretary General of the Council of Ministers for Conferences, Sohar Aluminium, kicked-off the 2017 Arab International Aluminium Conference (ARABAL). Running through November 9th, 2017, the event welcomed over 550 attending delegates from 35 countries and 64 industry leading speakers from a cross-section of industries, to share their insights on the challenges and opportunities around the aluminium industry. After the official inauguration of the event by H.H. Sayyid Harib bin Thuwaini Al Said, Assistant Secretary General of the Council of Ministers for Conferences, a series of high profile remarks took place. H.H. Sayyid Kamil bin Fahd bin Mahmoud Al Said, Assistant Secretary General for the Cabinet of the Deputy...
MINING giant Rio Tinto has officially decided to never reopen their Gove refinery, and will instead embark on a lengthy, costly and environmentally fraught dismantling operation. The East Arnhem Land refinery has been in ‘care and maintenance mode’ since operations were mothballed and 1100 workers sacked in November 2013 - but the company always attested that it may one day be reopened. Rio representatives have now ruled out that possibility, and alerted the NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner yesterday that it would be fully shutdown and dismantled. Rio’s Gove Operations general manager Linda Murray told NT News the company’s board had “made the decision” and was in the process of meeting with stakeholders to inform them of the news today. “We’ll now commence a number of studies to ensure...
Spain imported US$309.6 billion worth of goods in 2016. The country’s imports decreased during the last five years. Export of alumina is estimated to increase considerably in 2017. {newsStudioGallery} According to recent estimates, in 2016, the top alumina exporting countries to Spain are France (16117 tonnes), Germany (9048 tonnes) and Brazil (1756 tonnes). In 2017, it is estimated that the country will continue to import substantial amount of alumina from France. As our data shows, Spain imported about 31508 tonnes of alumina in 2015. The alumina import by the country dropped in 2016. The country imported 30983 tonnes of alumina. Spain is estimated to import about 41324 tonnes of alumina in 2017. The cost of the total alumina import stood at USD 23 million in 2015. The cost dropped to...
