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 North America food and beverage metal cans market was valued at USD 13.25 billion in 2016 and is expected to reach USD 15.51 billion by 2021, registering a CAGR of 3.2% during 2016 to 2021, according to new research report published by Market Data Forecast. Aluminium Cans are dominating the market holding nearly 70 per cent of share. The growth is driven mostly by increasing demand for processed and canned food and beverages and visual appeal of canned food. United States is leading food and beverage metal cans market with highest share followed by Canada. Some of the manufacturers dominating this market include Crown Holdings, Ball Corporation, Silgan Holdings, Ardagh Group, CAN-PACK S.A., and others.
MWheels, a distributor of forged aluminium wheels throughout Europe, has signed a new five-year exclusive European distribution agreement with the manufacturing giant Wheels India for Xlite and Xbrite forged aluminium wheels. Xlite and Xbrite, which are five times stronger and 40 per cent lighter than the standard steel equivalent, are spin forged from a single aluminium billet. WIL, a part of the TVS Group, one of India’s largest auto-component businesses, revealed an upgraded multi-million pound production facility to improve the forged aluminium wheel finishes still further at the start of 2017. Matthew Mardle, Chief Operating Officer at MWheels, said: “The relationship between the two companies is built on history, operational excellence and a mutual respect of each other’s’ strengths...
Australian Bauxite Limited’s shipment of up to 33,000 tonnes of cement grade bauxite to a repeat customer is expected to be fully delivered to the Bell Bay port by September 19. That would be two to three weeks ahead of schedule. The company, which mines at Bald Hill, near Campbell Town, said it would blend a further 45,000 tonnes from stockpiles to prepare for future sales. It said it was in negotiations with more potential customers. In its interim financial report for the six months to June 30, Australian Bauxite (ABx) said two major customers inspected the project in early September. It said the reviewers were impressed by the professionalism of the supply process involving the company and its contractors. It said it had more than 190,000 tonnes of bauxite stockpiled in Tasmania. It...
Tajikistan is considering increasing the production of primary aluminium in 2017. The country’s exports of raw aluminium represent 30.4% of the total exports. Turkey is one of the main consumers of country’s aluminium. The country’s largest state-owned company Tajik Aluminium Company (TALСO) has planned to increase aluminium production to 300,000 tonnes by 2020.TALCO official representative Igor Sattarov said: "The production will be brought to 168,800 tonnes in 2018, to 188,800 tonnes in 2019, and to 300,000 tonnes in 2020." According to the recent estimate, in 2015, Tajikistan exported 127421 tons of aluminium. The country exported around 141514 tons of aluminium in 2016. Tajikistan is estimated to export around 128911 tons of aluminium in 2017. In 2015, the total revenue from the...
The China aluminium market is fluctuating almost every day as the news of aluminium capacity cut in the country is slowly fading down. However, A00 Aluminium Ingot prices in China have registered a rise for two days consecutively after a fall. The average price of A00 Aluminium Ingot would range between RMB16,340 – 16,380/t and today’s average price stands at RMB 16,360/t, up from RMB 16,180/t yesterday. We can see the quick price fluctuation of A00 ingot prices in last one month in the below graph after a rapid jump in the middle of August. A00 Aluminium Ingot in spot China market is trading at discounts of RMB 140 - 100/t. Average prices for A00 ingot in the major Chinese markets for September 13 are given in the table below: Among the domestic markets, the average price for A00...
Apple yesterday launched new generation iPhone series- iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 plus with new glass and aluminium design, Retina HD displays and A11 Bionic — the smartest chip ever in a smartphone. The models are made of glass with color matched, aerospace grade aluminium band. The iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus have 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screen, and are available in 64GB and 256GB capacities starting at INR 64,000. Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing said, Packed with more advanced cameras with Portrait mode and Portrait Lighting, and the highest quality video capture in a smartphone, iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus enable the freedom of wireless charging, all with AR optimization like no phone ever before.” Apple’s new product iPhone X comes with an all-glass...
LME aluminium continues to move widely. The light metal which ended at US$2,100.50 per tonne on Monday, September 11, came down to US$2,083 per tonne on Tuesday, September 12. However, the uptrend in aluminium prices is not over yet. According to Reuters’ technical analysis, LME aluminium will rise and retrace to US$2,114 per tonne before testing a resistance at US$2,148 per tonne. Shanghai Metals Market observes that LME aluminium will not break through the resistance unless aluminium prices at Shanghai Futures Market register a significant rise. According to SMM forecast, LME aluminium will range at US$2,125-2,148 per tonne on Wednesday, September 13. As on September 12, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,082.50 per tonne, cash seller & settlement...
B & C Aluminium Plc, a.k.a. Inter Africa Extrusion Aluminium Factory, has started to export aluminium profiles for the first time to Egypt. It received an order of 500tn of aluminium profiles to be exported in different phases. The first shipment of 28tn of aluminium profile was made on September 9, 2017, after it concluded the three months dealing with an Egyptian company, EADA for Exporting and Importing Co. The Egyptian company paid B & C 0.81 dollars a kilogram. Established in 2003, B & C had been engaged in aluminium profile assembly for 10 years, before installing an extrusion machine which enabled it to produce aluminium profiles. Before that, the factory was importing aluminium profiles as a raw material for the assembly of doors, windows and other fixtures. The company also...
Azerbaijan’s State Property Issues Committee and the Ministry of Economy prepared proposals for the improvement of Azeraluminium JSC. This was stated in a report on evaluation of the results of implementing the Strategic Road Map for the development of heavy industry and machinery in Azerbaijan. The prepared proposals also include the possibility of granting deferral for the company to pay its credit obligations, as well as exemption of alumina and anodal blocks’ import from value-added tax. “As of today, a draft Action Plan for development of the aluminum industry in Azerbaijan as well as a draft order of the Azerbaijani president on its approval are already ready,” said the report. At the same time, proposals were prepared to start building the second phase of the project to bring up...
The Aluminum Association and the Aluminium Association of Canada reported primary aluminium production at an annual rate of 3,960,203 tonnes in North America (U.S. and Canada) during August 2017. The rate reports an increase of 16,072 tpy (+0.4%) from the July 2017 rate of 3,944,131 tonnes. The production rate in the U.S. declined seven-tenths of one percent m/m, while the Canadian rate increased seven tenths of one percent. The actual North American production decreased 2.4 per cent from a year ago to 2,634,612 tonnes through the first eight months of 2017. Statistics Canada report that Canada’s Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) declined 1.5 percent in July (111.8). The prices of alumina and aluminium production decreased 2.6 percent from June, but were up 9.7 percent over a year ago.
Sarginsons Industries, a leading lightweight casting expert in Coventry, announced growth in growth in sales and profit following a strong 2017 to date. The company witnessed a growth in developing high performance cast aluminium alloys for the automotive and rail industries. Sarginsons said that the company is on track to grow year-on-year sales by 30 per cent to £7.5 million by the end of 2017. At present, the company is working with the Brunel Centre for Advanced Solidification Technology (BCAST) for the development of new lightweight aluminium alloys. Anthony Evans, managing director at Sarginsons, said: “We’ve seen a huge rise in the demand for aluminium components in the global automotive industry and that is a major factor in our on-going success.” “This year we’ve seen a major...
Malaysia is the 25th largest importer in the world. The country’s imports of commodities have increased during the last five years. Apart from being a net exporter of metal scrap, Malaysia imports substantial amount of scrap from countries around the world. Aluminium scrap import by Malaysia has surged significantly over the last two years, and this trend is expected to grow further by the end of 2017. The USA is the top exporter of aluminium scrap to the country. According to the recent estimates, in the year 2015, Malaysia imported 93747 tonnes of aluminium scrap. The value of import was USD 106.83 million for the same amount. In the year 2016, the amount increased to 136664 tonnes and the value of import stood at USD 150 million. In the year 2017, Malaysia is estimated to import 165794...
Despite tight bauxite supply in Shanxi, due to environmental scanning, local market prices for bauxite rose slightly over August and September. According to Shanghai Metals Market report, the average price for Bauxite for August and September has not registered much change. The average prices of bauxite for August and the September till date is shown in the table below: Only the Shanxi and Henan provinces have registered a growth in bauxite price. We can see the growth of bauxite price in Shanxi in August in the following graph. The province has gone through rigorous environmental checks. The mines lacking production licenses were ordered to close operations by September 14. Alumina prices were subdued because of the news of aluminium capacity cut and resulting slow demand for alumina in...
Ball Corporation, the world’s leading can manufacturer, is showcasing three new can sizes for the first at Drinktec 2017 in Munich, Germany, September 11-15, 2017. Drinktec is the leading world fair for the beverage and liquid food industry. The can sizes include 25-centiliter Sleek and 45-centiliter super Sleek cans, as well as a 90-centiliter King can. The new aluminium 25-centiliter Sleek can with its 202 end has been designed to make it easier for filling locations to adopt the Sleek can, with customers including NESTLE Waters. Irina Dolyanovskaya, Sales Manager at Ball, comments: “The new 90-centiliter and 45-centiliter cans allow our customers to maintain their products at an affordable, standard price on shelf. These can sizes are seen as more premium and are becoming the new...
Seeking support from the rising aluminium contracts traded at Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE), aluminium prices at London Metal Exchange rose from its current lows of US$2,072 per tonne to US$2,100.50 per tonne on Monday, September 11. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium will retrace US$2,103 per tonne on Tuesday; a break below the level may lead to a moderate loss. However, any loss would be limited to US$2,082 per tonne. According to Shanghai Metals Market forecast, LME aluminium will range at US$2,110-2,135 per tonne on Tuesday, September 12. As on September 11, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,100 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,100.50 per tonne, 3M Bid Price is US$2,128 per tonne, 3M...
Despite tight bauxite supply in Shanxi, China’s alumina production increased in August. The country’s alumina production increased 19.1 per cent year-on-year to 5.92 million tonnes in August. The daily average production stood at 1191,100 tonnes, up 2.6 per cent month-on-month, according to SMM data. In July, China produced 5.77 million tonnes of alumina, up 14.4 per cent year-on-year. The daily average production stood at 186,000 tonnes, down 1.3 per cent month-on-month. Bauxite shortage has affected domestic alumina production in Shanxi. SMM says that one local alumina producer in Shanxi’s Jiaokou has to source bauxite from other regions since all bauxite mines are closed, In other news from SMM, Henan Province’s 11 alumina producers shall cut capacity by over 30 per cent based on the...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), the first aluminium smelter in the Gulf region, has been making steady progress with the execution of its flagship development, the Line 6 Expansion Project, according to a statement issued by the Chairman of the Alba Board of Directors, Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa. The site preparation, earthworks and concrete (including precast) works continue to ramp-up with the overall project progress at 25% through the end of July (including 50% progress in engineering and 70% progress in procurement and contracts). In addition, the first structural steel is scheduled for erection in the new pot room in September 2017. Shaikh Daij added: “We are delighted to see that the Line 6 Expansion Project continues to progress on schedule as that will accelerate...
The Queensland Department Heritage Protection (DEHP) has approved the environmental authority (EA) for Queensland Bauxite’s South Johnstone project at Camp Creek, taking it a step closer to production. The EA permit allows the company to conduct development work outlined by the mineral development licence (MDL) work program – which is subject to an MDL grant – in addition to the previously approved exploration activities in the South Johnstone region. Queensland Bauxite believes the EA permit is “the last hurdle” and paves the way for a decision on the MDL grant in the coming weeks. The company is also in the process of obtaining sales agreements with bauxite refineries for the South Johnstone ore. The next stage for the project is to wait for the decision on the MDL grant and work...
