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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Vedanta today announced that the State Pollution Control Board, Odisha ('SPCB') has revoked order for closure of three units (two units of 135 MW each and one unit of 600 MW) on September 20, 2017, and hence restarted these units of power plant. The company will not need to buy the 200 MW power from external sources. On 13 September 2017, SPCB had directed a temporary closure of the five power plant units (three units of 135 MW each of the 1215 MW power plant, and two units of 600 MW each of the 2400 MW power plant), following a breach in the Ash Pond dyke wall at Jharsuguda. The revocation order will help the Company get complete reliable power generation back in place, satisfying the current requirement for Smelter operations.
Despite tight bauxite supply in Shanxi and Henan due to environmental check, local market prices for bauxite rose very slow over August and September. According to Shanghai Metals Market report, the average price for Shanxi Bauxite (6.0≤Al/Si＜7.0) in August stood at RMB 371.25/t and Henan Bauxite (6.0≤Al/Si＜7.0) stood at RMB 390/t. Average prices for Shanxi and Henan bauxite increased to RMB 411.67/t and RMB 420/t respectively for the month of September till date. The average bauxite prices for Shanxi and Henan on September 18, according to SMM statistics is shown in the table below: We can see the growth of bauxite price in Shanxi in August and September in the following graph. The province has gone through rigorous environmental checks and mines lacking production licenses had to close...
India’s three Central Public sector undertakings under the administrative control of Ministry of Mines – National Aluminium Company Ltd (Nalco), Hindustan Copper Ltd (HCL) and Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd (MECL) –signed an MoU on September 18, 2017, to make the country self-reliant in the areas of 12 strategic minerals that are either not available in the country or are scarce in the country. Dr. Tapan Kumar Chand, CMD, NALCO, Shri Santosh Sharma, CMD, HCL and Dr. Gopal Dhawan, CMD MECL- the three respective heads of the companies signed the MoU at NALCO's Corporate Office in Bhubaneswar on Monday. The companies also agreed to set up a joint venture (JV) company to be named as Khanij Bidesh India Ltd (KABIL). Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Tapan Kumar Chand said: "The objective of...
According to the figures released by the International Aluminium Institute (IAI) and published by Shanghai Metals Market, the global aluminium production in the month of August dropped sharply both on monthly and yearly basis. The global aluminium production stood at 4.8 million tonnes in August, down 55,000 tonnes from July and 63,000 tonnes from a year ago. The production of aluminium outside China was 2.16 million tonnes in August, from 2.17 million tonnes in July. In other news from SMM, the Commission of Industry and Information Technology of Henan Province said that 70,000 tonnes of aluminium capacity from three smelters are available for sale nationwide.
India’s economic growth has slowed down, but the long-term outlook remains positive. In the quarter ended June 2017, the economy grew by only 5.7 per cent, down from 7.9 per cent in the corresponding period previous year. All four contributors to economic growth – domestic consumption, foreign consumption or exports, private investment and government spending – dropped year-on-year, reveals statistics. Despite this slowdown the country’s building and construction sector is logging a moderate growth. Driven by the demand from the B&C sector, India’s aluminium tubes and pipes import is expected to rise in 2017. India imported a total quantity of 9483 tonnes of aluminium tubes and pipes in 2016, down from 10,924 tonnes in 2015. In 2017, the country’s aluminium tubes and pipes import is...
Kian Joo Can Factory, aluminium can manufacturer in Malaysia, said that the company secured $60 million as debt investment in order to support its manufacturing facilities in the Thilawa Special Economic Zone near Yangon, Myanmar. The two plants will manufacture aluminium and tin cans for paints and beverage industry. The company had invested $23.5 million to build the manufacturing facilities. The remaining amount of the $100 million total investment is expected to come from internal financing. “We work closely with international banks and for Myanmar, we work with Singapore and Japanese banks. Officially, the letter of offer (from the banks for Myanmar) was received a few months back,” said Ooi Teik Huat, group chief financial officer of Kian Joo Can (Myanmar) to DEALSTREETASIA.
Aluminium scrap plays a very significant role in North America’s export. Total exports by the U.S. and Canada including scrap, which accounted for roughly 53.9 % of reported aluminium exports in July, stood at 523 million pounds; up 6.7 % YoY. Excluding scrap, total exports stood at 241 million pounds; up 2.8 % YoY. Scrap export increased 10.3 % YoY. New can stock (class) scrap receipts stood at 60.3 million pounds during August 2017, off 2.8 % from the August 2016 total of 62.1 million pounds. Compared to the previous month, receipts rose 6.9 % over the July 2017 total of 56.4 million pounds. YTD receipts through August 2017 stood at 447.3 million pounds, down 4.6 % from the 2016 YTD total of 468.9 million pounds.
LME aluminium strengthened further as positions dropped sharply. The light metal contract rose to US2,164 per tonne on Wednesday, September 20, up from US$2,490 per tonne on Tuesday, September 19. The U.S. Federation decided to keep the interest rate unchanged, but sounded hawkish on rate hike forecasts and balance sheet reduction sending U.S. dollar index to new highs. This is likely to weigh down base metal prices. Shanghai Metals Market predicts that LME aluminium which opened low on Thursday, September 21, will range at US$2,165-2,185 per tonne. As on September 20, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,163.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,164 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,190 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is...
According to the latest report from Aluminium Association, U.S. and Canada imported 863 million pounds of aluminium ingot, scrap and mill products in July 2017, up 31.8 % from July 2016. YTD imports were up 28.8 % to 5,938 million pounds, while exports were up 4.6 % to 3,625 million pounds. U.S. and Canadian producers shipped 356.5 million pounds of can stock during August 2017, down 4.7 % from the August 2016. On a month on month comparison, shipments rose 2.3 % over July 2017. YTD shipments through August 2017 stood at 2,753.5 million pounds, down 2.7 % from the same period of 2016. YoY, producer shipments of can stock to U.S. markets decreased 5.0 % to 302.1 million pounds, while exports were off 3.0 % to 54.5 million pounds. Shipments of Aluminium Foil by U.S. and Canadian producers...
Oman's Sohar Aluminium today announced that the aluminium production started again on Friday, 15th September, following the interruption at its smelter in Sohar. The company had informed about an accident which interrupted normal operations in August. The accident halted aluminium production for six-and-a-half hours. "Sohar Aluminium has confirmed it has re-energised the potline, and on Friday 15th September 2017 gradually began re-starting the pots and the production of aluminium," said Said Al Masoudi, chief executive officer of Sohar Aluminium. "The company is still working closely with a team of industry experts to progressively return to full production levels as early as possible," he added. Sohar Aluminium is jointly owned by Oman Oil Company, Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC...
Two aluminium and alumina producers in Henan have started winter capacity cuts in advance, from Sept 19. As reported by SMM, Jiaozuo Wanfang Aluminum will cut aluminum capacity by over 30% based on the number of electrolytic cells, while Chalco Zhongzhou Aluminum will cut alumina capacity by over 30% based on the number of production lines. They will continue the process until Mar15, 2018. This has buoyed aluminium and aluminium alloy prices in China across all markets. SHFE 1711 aluminium gained as much as 3.88% as of 2:34 pm after news of two producers in Henan cutting capacity ahead of schedule started floating in the market. The rise in aluminium alloy prices is presented in the table below: A00 Aluminium Ingot prices in China have registered a rise for two days consecutively after a...
Aluminium Association of India (AAI), a member of Aluminium International and the apex body representing all primary and secondary producers of aluminium in India organized a national seminar today on the theme ‘Aluminium in Power Transmission and Distribution’ at Bhubaneswar. In his inaugural address, Dr. Tapan Kumar Chand, Chairman of Aluminium Association of India, said, ‘’Per capita aluminium consumption in India is only 2.2kg against world average of 7 kg and 20 kg in China. There is huge potential for increasing the consumption of aluminium from existing level of 3.2 million tons per annum to 8 million tons per annum in next 2 to 3 years. Smart cities, bullet trains, power to every household, energy efficient automobile, aluminium wagons and many more are the areas for expansion of...
North Korea imported $3.47B worth of goods, making it the 141st largest importer in the world. The country mostly imports from China and India. During the first seven months of this year, North Korea imported 232 tonnes of primary aluminium from China, an increase of 886 per cent year-on-year. North Korea’s imports of aluminium dropped sharply in 2016. The country is projected to witness a slight increase in imports of aluminium this year. In the year 2015, imports of aluminium stood at about 1439 tonnes (estimated). The volume decreased to 408 tonnes in 2016. The aluminium import by North Korea is estimated to stand at about 416 tonnes in 2017. The cost from import was US$ 1.96 million and US$ 0.77 million respectively for the years 2015 and 2016. The cost of import of aluminium by the...
LME aluminium recovered from its recent lows and climbed to US$2,107.50 per tonne on Tuesday, September 19, as positions dropped sharply, indicating risk aversion. The rise of 1.95 per cent from its earlier close of US$2,067 per tonne on September 18 proves that the technical side is positive for the light metal. Shanghai Metals Market forecasts that LME aluminium will range at US$2,110-2,140 per tonne on Wednesday, September 20. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium may end its current bounce around a resistance at US$2,148 per tonne, and then fall towards a support at US$2,103. As on September 19, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,107 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,107.50 per tonne, 3M Bid...
AluK, a global leader in the design and engineering of aluminium window, door and curtain walling systems, has introduced two new aluminium double glazed curtain wall systems. The introduction of the AluK SL50 and AluK SG50 curtain walling systems replace the current SL52 and SG52 aluminium curtain walling systems. “The SL50 is a capped stick-frame curtain walling system that has been designed to offer the highest performance through a combination of unique profile design and thermal optimisation.” The SG50 is made to give flexibility and ease of installation, with glazing infills and a complete range of face caps. The new systems have been tested to CWCT Sequence B and designed to be fully integrated with AluK window, door and brise soleil systems. Hazlemere Commercial, an independent...
Axalta Coating Systems, a leading global supplier of liquid and powder coatings, has worked with Reynaers Aluminium, a European developer of aluminium products for the building sector, to offer architects with beautiful, durable, coated aluminium products. Reynaers Aluminium expanded its product portfolio by adding Axalta’s Alesta SD ICONICA collection. The company presented the product at the Festival van de Architectuur 2017. Peter Ottevaere, Marketing and Communication Manager from Reynaers Aluminium, says, “The new ICONICA collection illustrates this perfectly, as it offers an impressive range of beautiful colors with the super durable and environmentally sustainable attributes our customers expect.” Frank De Cock, Axalta’s Regional Sales Director and Marketing Communications Director...
Constellium N.V. announced that it has extended its long-term contract with aircraft manufacturer Pilatus to support its new executive jets aircraft program. With this agreement Constellium will supply an increased volume of aerospace plate to Pilatus. Under this contract, Constellium will supply Pilatus with aerospace plates from its manufacturing plant in Issoire (France) to support the delivery of more than 80 PC-24 Super Versatile Jets as part of Pilatus’ efforts to develop a new executive jet segment. “This contract further strengthens our longstanding relationship with Pilatus” said Ingrid Joerg, President of Constellium’s Aerospace and Transportation business unit. “It also demonstrates Constellium’s expertise in providing leading solutions for the aerospace market, thanks to a...
Australian Bauxite Limited announced the delivery of 30,000 tonne bauxite from its Bald Hill Bauxite mine, Campbell Town, Northern Tasmania. The customer will pay 90 per cent of the invoice value immediately and the remainder on proof of weight. “Because this delivery has been completed 3 weeks ahead of schedule, an additional sale for 5,000 tonnes of a different cement-grade bauxite specification has been agreed and will be carried in a separate hold in the same ship,” the company said. ABx's Chief Operating Officer, Leon Hawker commented; "We have again confirmed our reputation of on-time delivery of large tonnage cargoes of bauxite produced and blended to customer's requirements. Bell Bay Port is an ideal export port for bulk-shipments of our bauxite and other products that can be...
