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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According to the Preliminary estimate of Aluminum Association, aluminium demand in the United States and Canada (shipments by domestic producers plus imports) stood at 13,890 million pounds through the first half of 2017, up 4.1% over the same period of 2016. Demand for semi-fabricated (mill) products stood at 9,951 million pounds, up 5.8%. Apparent consumption (demand minus exports) in domestic markets stood at an estimated 12,413 million pounds, up 5.3% YoY. Aluminium net shipments (including exports) by domestic U.S. and Canadian facilities totalled an estimated 1,803 million pounds during July, up 1.1% over the amount shipped in July 2016. Shipments of aluminium mill products increased 2.1% over the previous year to 1,314 million pounds, while shipments of aluminium ingot for...
According to a Shanghai Metals Market analysis, SHFE 1711 aluminium will move within a range of RMB 16,280-16,450/t over the day, testing support at the 20-day moving average, after the big drop today. In east China’s spot aluminium market, spot discounts are expected at RMB 200-160/t over SHFE 1709 aluminium contract. SME aluminium price graph SMM Aluminium premiums in Guangdong over Shanghai narrowed slightly to around RMB70 /tonne on Tuesday. Mainstream traded prices were 16,230-16,250 yuan/tonne in Guangdong market. The drop in SHFE aluminium price has generated a strong wait-and-see sentiment among buyers, causing a slowdown in trading activities. On the other hand, stocks in China are expected to add up more with legal new and idled capacity coming into operations very soon....
The Food Safety Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) will release the draft regulations on the new packaging, labelling and claims and advertisement in next couple of months. FSSAI expedited its work on this, and will launch three separate sets of regulations. The packaging regulations will cover most of the packaging materials which include aluminium foil, laminates, aluminium sheets used for cans, plastics, glass, paper, tin, etc. “FSSAI is reviving the existing Food Safety Standards (Packaging and Labelling) Regulations, 2011, and decided that the same would be divided into three parts, namely regulations pertaining to packaging, labelling and advertisement and claims,” its CEO Pawan Kumar Agarwal said. He further added: “A lot needs to be done in this regard. We held talks with the...
LME aluminium seems to have temporarily reversed its uptrend though it is too early to predict a direction. The light metal contract dropped to US$2,082 per tonne after night trading on Tuesday, September 5, down 0.64 per cent from its earlier close of US$2,095.5 per tonne on September 4. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium may break support at US$2,089 per tonne, and fall further to US$2,068 per tonne on Wednesday, September 6. According to Shanghai Metals Market forecast, LME aluminium will test support at the 20-day moving average and range at US$2,080-2,105 per tonne on Wednesday, September 6. As on September 5, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,081 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price) is US$2,082 per...
Exton Cubic Limited is considering filing legal suit against the government for revoking company’s Nyinahini mining lease to undertake prospecting of bauxite in the Ashanti Region. The government cancelled the bauxite mining lease yesterday, August 4. Exton Cubic’s Public Relations Officer, Samuel Gyamfi told Accra based Joy Fm, “It is sad and worrying and very unfortunate that a local Ghanaian business engaging in this venture will be subjected to this (frustration) this much.” “We want to assure our sympathizers to remain calm, there is no cause for alarm, we have gone through the letters and there is no legal justification for what the government has done.” He said that they intend to establish an aluminium industry that would further create employment opportunities. He added: “We have...
China’s Guangxi province has set capacity target for next year. Baise City in Guangxi Province sets a goal for local alumina, aluminium and aluminium processing capacity, according to Shanghai Metals Market. The city intends to boost alumina capacity to 10 million tonnes, aluminium capacity to over 2.6 million tonnes and aluminium processing capacity to more than 3.2 million tonnes by 2018. Guangxi Province is a major producer of alumina and aluminium. Province’s aluminium production is expected to increase further. In June, Baise Mining Group initiated the production of its Coal-Power-Aluminium Integrated project at Guangxi province. The project would produce aluminium with Al content as high as over 99.99 per cent.
The Hamad Port that is being officially opened in Qatar is expected to play a significant role in increasing Qatar’s foreign trade and in the development of the country’s major industries. Al Shaheen Aluminium, Glass & UPVC Factory chairman Shaheen al-Muhannadi said the port is a big step in the globalisation of the world economy, which has increased trading among countries in the world. The world-class facilities in one of the largest ports in the region will have the ability to meet up global demand. “The function of Hamad Port is not limited and has expanded to a logistical platform .The efficiency of a port is important in international trade since it is the nerve of a county’s foreign trade,” al-Muhannadi said. He also stressed that Hamad Port will help the major industries like...
According to Novelis Recycling UK data, the beverage can market in UK is approximately 140,000 tonnes per year, equivalent to over seven billion cans. The country made remarkable progress in aluminium can export in 2016. After a slump in the first half of 2017, the exports are again set to grow in the H2 2017. The growth is in tandem with UK aluminium beverage can recycling rate which hit 70 per cent in 2016. {newsStudioGallery} The UK exported 24,760 .5 tonnes of aluminium cans in H1 2016. The value of export stood at US$110.5 million. In H2 2016, export volume of aluminium cans more than halved to reach 10,727 tonnes, with earnings declining to only US$60 million. During the first six months of 2017, aluminium can export volume from the UK somewhat recovered to reach 13,594 tonnes. The...
Pacific Bauxite has announced a restructuring of its board in a recent press release. Mark Gwynne would step down as executive chair and assume the role of executive director and chief executive. The new director will focus on advancing the bauxite exploration activities in the Solomon Islands. Current non-executive director will become non-executive chair. Pacific Bauxite Limited is an Australian miner mainly focusing on bauxite exploration, mining and production. The company has made substantial investment in bauxite projects in the Solomon Islands and intends to expand Malaysian mining operations. The company was recently embroiled in a tiff with landowners in the Solomon Islands over various allegations. The landowners alleged that the company tricked local communities into signing...
Sony has showcased its latest audio products at the IFA 2017, in Berlin on Thursday, August 31. The company launched NW-ZX300 Walkman to its ZX Walkman series. The new NW-ZX300 comes with an aluminium chassis. Shigeru Kumekawa, the President of Sony Europe, said: “… Sony stands at the “last one inch” between our customers and the experiences they seek. We are achieving steady profit growth in our electronics business here in Europe by focusing on the high value-added market, and are well positioned for the remainder of 2017 and beyond.” The new Sony NW-ZX300 Walkman has 3.1 inch display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. It offers High Resolution Audio with S-Master HX digital amplifier. The ZX300 incorporates an aluminium chassis for less resistance value. The FTCAP (Conductive...
In east China spot aluminium market, traders bought actively out of bullishness. Downstream producers sourced metal according to their need. Environmental issues continue to hurt production for both primary and downstream producers. Mainstream traded prices were RMB16,160-16,200 /tonne in Shanghai on Tuesday, RMB16,160-16,200 /tonne in Wuxi and RMB16,160-16,180 /tonne in Hangzhou. Spot discounts of RMB 200-170 /tonne over SHFE 1709 aluminium were offered in the markets. SHFE 1711 aluminium is expected to move around RMB 16,500-16,700/mt on Tuesday after the big drop yesterday. In another update, SMM statistics showed that aluminium stocks in China’s seven major markets, including SHFE aluminium warrants, kept on adding up to new highs. As on September 4, the total aluminium stocks in...
A global aluminium producer has offered Japanese buyers a premium of $100 per tonne for primary metal shipments during the October to December period, down 15 per cent to 16 per cent from the current quarter, three sources directly involved in pricing talks said on Monday, September 4. Another seller has sought a premium of $110 a tonne, down 7 per cent to 8 per cent from the price for shipments over the July to September period, the sources said. Japan is Asia’s biggest aluminium importer and the premiums for primary metal shipments it agrees to pay each quarter over the London Metal Exchange (LME) cash price set the benchmark for the region.
The Production Safety Supervision and Administration Department of Yunnan Province issued a notice which states the commencement of safety inspections from September 11, on aluminium, iron and steel plants as part of a crackdown on outdated capacity, Reuters reported. According to the notice, smelters that do not meet the requirements will have to make improvements before the end of this year or weed out. According to consultancy CRU, the province has aluminium smelting capacity of about 1.7 million tonnes per year, compared with China’s total of just over 45 million tonnes per year. Almost all of province’s capacity is held by provincial government-controlled Yunnan Aluminium. Yunnan’s safety checks are separate from the national Ministry of Environmental Protection inspections. Beijing,...
LME aluminium declined sharply after the U.S. Labour Day weekend, as U.S. crude prices rose on returning refineries. The light metal contract, which ended last week Friday at US$2,113.50 per tonne, came down to settle at US$2,095.50 per tonne on Monday, September 4. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium may break an important support at US$2,103 per tonne, and fall further to the US$2,081-2,089 per tonne range on Tuesday, September 5. According to Shanghai Metals Market forecast, LME aluminium will draw support from the 5-day moving average and move within the range of US$2,105-2,130 per tonne on Tuesday, September 5. As on September 4, LME official cash buyer aluminium price (Bid Price) stands at US$2,095 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price (Offer price)...
According to a spokesperson from Aleris, the acquisition deal between China Zhongwang and Cleveland’s Aleris Corporation has not been called off by any side. According to a report published in Blloomberg on Friday, the merger agreement between both the companies has been extended to the middle of September. The initial agreement, announced at the end of August 2016, was scheduled to expire Aug. 31. “We remain in discussions with Zhongwang USA on the pending acquisition,” said Jason Saragian, an Aleris spokesman to Bloomberg News via email. If the transaction takes place, it would be the biggest-ever acquisition by a Chinese company of an overseas metals processor. The transaction faced regulatory hurdles in the U.S. as U.S. officials raised concerns over national-security. Recently, there...
Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, will work with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on six new practical research projects at EGA later this year. MIT is the leading research university in the United States. The new projects extend EGA’s partnership with MIT’s David H. Koch School of Chemical Engineering Practice, a programme through which post-graduate students apply their academic knowledge and expertise by suggesting 'out of the box' solutions for industrial problems. Dr. Alan Hatton, the director of the school, and Dr Brian Stutts, who runs the school’s projects with industrial companies, visited EGA to finalise the new projects. EGA has worked with the MIT programme since 2015. The programme has a history...
According to the latest report from United Nation’s Geological Survey (USGS) total aluminium imports for consumption for the first 6 months of 2017 increased by 21% compared with the amount in the same period of 2016. Imports of crude metal and alloys increased by 23% while imports of semi-fabricated materials increased by 14%, and imports of scrap increased by 24% in comparison to the first half of 2016. Canada remained the leading import source of aluminium and aluminium products to the United States for the period, contributing 45% of total aluminium imports, followed by the United Arab Emirates (11%), Russia (11%), and China (6%). Total import stood at 3,610,000 tonnes in comparison to 2,980,000 tonnes in the same period of 2016. On an interesting observation, Canada accounted for 51%...
After abruptly cancelling a bauxite concession agreement with Exton Cubic, an indigenous mining firm for bauxite mining at Nyinahini, President Akufo-Addo’s Land and Natural Resources Minister, Mr John Peter Amewu is expected to announce government’s decision to cancel Exton Cubic’s Nyinahini mining lease today. Media reports indicated this development as final barring any last minute change of mind. President Akufo-Addo who was irked by the recent press conference by the chiefs and people of Nyinahini has given strict orders to the Lands and Natural Resources Ministry on this matter. According to other sources President Akufo-Addo’s decision to cancel the mining lease to Exton Cubic was also influenced by government’s plans to leverage Ghana’s natural resources with Chinese investment....
