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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Mitsubishi Materials is exploring a partnership in aluminum production for cars in the U.S., the company announced Friday, as automakers demand lighter materials to make vehicles that meet stricter emission standards. The Japanese group is expected invest up to 40 billion yen ($360 million) in rolled aluminum production for heat exchangers, a cooling component for engines, in the U.S. Tokyo-based unit Mitsubishi Aluminum and Sweden's Granges, the world's top rolled aluminum supplier for heat exchangers, are in the final negotiations on establishing a U.S. joint venture in 2018. The two seek to create an integrated production base handling everything from the base material to the finished product by 2021. Granges already has plants in the U.S., China and Sweden. Mitsubishi Aluminum will...
Shanghai Metals Market Statistics shows the average spot alumina price has been rising continuously from September 1 to stand at RMB 2958/tonne for the month average. On September 19, Thursday, the average alumina price stands at RMB 3353/tonne, an increase from RMB 3325/tonne yesterday. Alumina price from large scale alumina enterprises too is on upward track through August and September. On September 19, Chalco alumina price stands at RMB 3310/tonne from RMB 3290/tonne yesterday and is expected to move within a range of RMB 3,290- 3,330/t. In the imported alumina market; average price stands at RMB 2974/tonne and today’s price stands at RMB 3300/tonne, up from RMB 3250/tonne yesterday. Today’s spot alumina prices in the domestic markets are shown in the table below: According to SMM...
Bauxite mining operations in the Guinean mining hub of Boke resumed this Monday, September 18, after public protests over electricity cuts had disrupted bauxite deliveries since Friday, mining companies and the concerned government officials confirmed. Deliveries from three sites of Societe Miniere de Boke (SMB), owned by China’s Winning Shipping Ltd and Shandong Weiqiao, UMS International Ltd and the Guinean state, was interrupted on Friday, September 15, General Manager Frederic Bouzigues told Reuters. “Our employees were able to reach our different sites this morning and work has started again. We hope to reach our maximum capacity in two or three days,” said Bouzigues. SMB is one of the two major bauxite mining companies in Guinea and produces around 15 million tonnes of the aluminium...
LME aluminium seems to have regained some strength. After dropping to around US$2,060 per tonne, it is again moving up. The light metal closed at US$2,067 per tonne on Monday, September 18; but Shanghai Metals Market predicts that LME aluminium will range at US$2,080-2,107 per tonne on Tuesday, September 19. According to Reuters’ technical analysis, LME aluminium may bounce to US$2,125 per tonne in short term, as it has risen above a resistance at US$2,103 per tonne. As on September 18, LME official bid price of aluminium stands at US$2,066 per tonne, offer price is US$2,066.50 per tonne, 3M bid price is US$2,095 per tonne, 3M offer price is US$2,096 per tonne, Dec3 bid price is US$2,225 per tonne, and Dec3 offer price is US$2,230 per tonne. The current LME official Opening Stock of...
Ahmed Mansoor Al Aali Group (AMA Group), one of the major Bahraini contractors for Alba’s Line 6 Expansion Project has welcomed Alba’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray in their plant during his inspection visit. He visited the plant to celebrate the fabrication of 100 Pot Shells on Thursday September 7th 2017. Line 6 Project Director Shawqi Al Hashmi and a delegation of Line 6 Owners’ Team and Bechtel managers accompanied Murray during the visit. Expressing his pleasure at the achievement Murray said: “We are very happy with AMA Group’s swift progress in fabricating 100 pot shells ahead of schedule. This level of performance shows that AMA Group shares our commitment to accelerate the delivery of Line 6 Expansion Project.” Alba awarded AMA Group the contract to manufacture 427 pot...
South Korea is the 9th largest importer in the world. The country’s imports of commodities increased at an annualized rate of 0.6%, from $408B in 2010 to $422B in 2015. South Korea imports large quantities of alumina to meet the domestic demand. Australia and Japan are the top suppliers of alumina to the country. As shown by the data, South Korea imported about 112849 tonnes of alumina in 2015. The amount slightly fell in 2016 to reach 111287 tonnes. The country is estimated to import about 117258 tonnes of alumina in 2017. The cost of alumina import stood at USD 90 million in 2015. In 2016, the import generated a cost of USD 94 million. The cost of import for alumina in 2017 is estimated to be USD 441 million. According to latest statistics, in 2016, South Korea imported the largest...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C (Alba), the Bahrain-based world’s leading aluminium smelter, is a key partner and a host sponsor of the 32nd International Aluminium Conference that will be held in the Kingdom of Bahrain from 25 to 27 September 2017 at the Gulf Hotel Bahrain. The conference will feature a number of key speakers, thought leaders and aluminium experts including Alba’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray. Commenting on Alba’s sponsorship for the 32nd International Aluminium Conference, Alba’s CEO, Tim Murray, said: “It is our pleasure to partner with Metal Bulletin in hosting the 32nd International Aluminium Conference as Alba is on the way to become the largest single-site smelter in the world with the commissioning of Line 6 on January 1st, 2019. We also look forward to meeting and...
Aluminium processors based in Gongyi of Henan in China have got notices for production cut during the winter heating season (Nov. 15, 2017-Mar. 15, 2018), according to Shanghai Metals Market. Local aluminium processors ordered to cut production by 30 per cent, 50 per cent, 80 per cent and 100 per cent in heavy-polluting days during the winter heating season. Earlier report stated that the local 13 aluminium smelters shall cut capacity by over 30 per cent based on the number of electrolytic cells during, according to the Industrial Enterprise Off-Peak Production Implementation Program in Autumn and Winter 2017-2018.
The Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) has learned through a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report that “the U.S. Department of Justice is alleging that a California company evaded $1.5 billion in tariffs by conducting an illegal effort to smuggle banned aluminum into the U.S.” The article by the WSJ goes on to say, “The civil complaint signals that U.S. authorities are deepening an investigation into a long-running international aluminum scheme that allegedly involves Fontana, Calif.-based Perfectus Aluminum Inc. The complaint, part of a proceeding to seize assets, alleges that Perfectus Aluminum is controlled and effectively owned by Liu Zhongtian, founder and chairman of Chinese aluminum giant China Zhongwang Holdings, Inc., one of China’s biggest aluminum producers and exporters.” In late...
The facade on the North Melbourne Institute of TAFE features Symonite HD aluminium composite panels in various metallic and solid colours. Located in Preston, Victoria, the North Melbourne TAFE facility was designed by Tectura Architects with the building and installation completed by Commercial Industrial Construction Group and Kakosi Construction. The facade panels from Symonite Australia are from the Symonite HD 4mm PVDF range in a series of metallic colours including Pewter, Tangerine, Smoke Blue, and Champagne Metallic Stucco as well as the solid colour Tropical Yellow. The panels were fixed using the direct stick method. Symonite HD aluminium composite panels comprise of a heavy duty fibre reinforced phenolic core finished with a decorative coloured aluminium surface on one side or...
Indonesia has significant reserves of bauxite and has become a major exporter to China. The country exported 50,295 tonnes of bauxite to china in the first seven months of this year. Indonesia’s export of bauxite is projected to increase in the second half of 2017. Kendawangan and Tayan mines are the largest bauxite reserves in Indonesia, having estimated reserves of 42 million tonnes and 115.8 million tonnes respectively. According to an SMM report, one company obtained bauxite export approval from the Energy and Mineral Resources Indonesia, said Dadan Kusdiana, spokesperson for the ministry. PT Laman Mining received an annual bauxite export quota of 2.9 million tonnes. However, Economic & Trade Department has the authority to issue final export permits. According to the estimated data,...
LME aluminium improved slightly to close at US$2,068 per tonne on Friday, September 15. Shanghai Metals Market observes that LME aluminium will range US$2,080-2,110 per tonne Monday, September 18. According to Reuters’ technical analysis, LME aluminium may fall into the range of US$2,055-US$2,068 per tonne, as it could have peaked around $2,146. As on September 15, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,067.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,068 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,098 per tonne, 3M Offer Price is US$2,100 per tonne, Dec3 Bid Price is US$2,228 per tonne, and Dec3 Offer Price is US$2,233 per tonne. LME aluminium Opening Stock stands at 1313400 tonnes, total Live Warrants is 1135600 tonnes, and Cancelled...
Nalco has commissioned its wind power plants with 50 MW and 50.4 MW capacity in Rajasthan and Maharashtra, respectively, at a cost of Rs 669 crore. The company plans to set up another wind power plant of 50 MW capacity and looking at suitable location in the country. Techno-commercial bids for selection of wind power developer were opened in last December and price bid is in the process of being opened, the company said in its annual report. The company also plans to set up a 20 MW solar power plant in Madhya Pradesh. The project is registered with MPNRED (Madhya Pradesh New & Renewable Energy Department) and 55.62 Ha land has been transferred to the department in November, 2016. Application for grid connectivity permission was also submitted to Madhya Pradesh Paschim Kshetra Vidyut...
Norwegian aluminium components producer Sapa is investing £9.6m to reopen the aluminium factory, which was shut in 2014, in Bedwas, Wales. The plant would supply lightweight aluminium for hybrid black cabs produced by the London Electrical Vehicle Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Chinese automaker Geely. Barnaby Struthers, Sapa’s business development manager in Britain, said, “Our plant is geared up to support the booming automotive industry in the UK and we see the trend absolutely continuing towards aluminium as a solution for their lightweighting challenges.” “This was the first plant we had to sacrifice, but it is also the first one to be reopened,” John Thuestad, Sapa’s head of extrusions for Europe, told Reuters. “The auto sector is only 15 percent of our (global) business, but...
From the past week the downstream aluminium industry has seen many investments, new agreements and announcement of quarterly reports by some of the companies in the downstream industry. Let’s explore the top stories covering the downstream products vertical for the week that went by: RUSAL invests USD7.6 million in casting alloys quality improvements UC RUSAL announced the completion of the modernization of Befesa-2 line for standard alloyed ingots production at the Irkutsk Aluminium Smelter (IrkAZ). Magna inaugurates new high-pressure aluminium casting facility in Alabama Magna is expanding operations to add aluminium casting capabilities at its Kamtek facility in Birmingham, Alabama. The $60 million facility will initially manufacture lightweight aluminium front shock towers for a major...
According to a report published by Reuters, China Zhongwang and Cleveland’s Aleris Corporation decided to extend their merger agreement through September 29, representatives of the two companies said. The agreement was scheduled to expire September 15. "We remain in discussions with Zhongwang USA on the pending acquisition of Aleris," Aleris spokesman Jason Saragian said in an email. “To allow those discussions to continue, we have decided to extend our merger agreement through September 29.” In 2016, Aleris Corporation, a global aluminium rolled products producer, announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Zhongwang USA LLC, a company majority-owned and led by Mr. Liu Zhongtian.
AlCircle, the Virtual Aluminium Ecosystem, is soon to come up with its second report. This special AlCircle Market Insight titled ‘ Global Aluminium & Raw Material Market with Sectoral Focus on CPC, CTP and Prebaked Anode (2016-17)’ brings together the current market trends of Aluminium and its three key raw materials- Calcined Petroleum Coke, Coal Tar Pitch and Prebaked Anode from across the world. What does the AlCircle Market Insight report offer? The report takes into account the changing international trade scenario and analyses the market dynamics of each sector- Aluminium, CPC, CTP and Prebaked Anode at the backdrop of it. It takes one sector at a time to explain in details the following topics: A general overview of the upstream Aluminium industry covering individual raw material...
Gränges, a leading global supplier of rolled aluminium products for heat exchanger applications and other niche markets, has planned to spend USD 110 million for the expansion of its aluminium rolling operation in Huntingdon, Tennessee. “The expansion in Huntingdon marks the next step in our strategic growth plan for the North American market. Gränges has built a strong reputation in the aluminium rolling industry, and this expansion allows us to further support our customers’ growth”, says Gränges CEO Johan Menckel. The expansion includes investment in buildings, casters, cold rolling mills, annealing furnaces and slitters. The company’s Huntingdon capacity will increase from about 160 ktonnes to nearly 200 ktonnes per year. This is the second major investment in Huntingdon since 2000....
