BorgWarner has won its first commercial order for an electric motor developed with aluminium-wire hairpin winding technology. The US automotive supplier will provide the new eMotor to a major Chinese automaker for use in hybrid vehicles, bringing the technology into its first production application. The motor uses aluminium-wire hairpin winding technology and is designed for hybrid vehicles. Its applications include generator motors and traction motors for auxiliary drive systems, with production scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2026. Explore AL Circle’s report ALuminium Wires & Cables - Insights & Forecast to 2030 for insights into aluminium applications, industry developments and opportunities across the electrical sector . Compared with conventional copper-wire motors with...
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...
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LME aluminium firms up slightly gaining support from a weaker dollar and rising crude oil prices on Monday, July 31. The light metal which closed at US$1,892 per tonne last Friday, July 28, settled at US$1,904 per tonne after yesterday’s night trading. However, the gain is likely to be limited within the range US$1,905-1,925 per tonne on Tuesday, August 1, as LME aluminium faces strong resistance at the moving averages, observes Shanghai Metals Market. According to Reuters’ technical analysis, LME aluminium is biased to break a support at US$1,909 per tonne and retrace the next support level at US$1,896 per tonne in the short term. A break above US$1,909 per tonne in the upper trendline may take the light metal contract to US$1,926.50-1,938 per tonne during later trading hours on Tuesday,...
The European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA) announced that the entries for the Alufoil Trophy 2018 are now open. The deadline for the entries is 24 November 2017.The competition which is being organised by EAFA hunt for the best products which are either made from aluminium foil or aluminium closures. EAFA presents the Alufoil Trophy 2018 with five major categories includes Marketing + Design, Consumer Convenience, Resource Efficiency, Product Protection and Technical Innovation. Entries are accepted from packaging designers, brand owners, foil rollers, foil converters, foil container manufacturers, closure manufacturers, household foil manufacturers, retailers, industrial solution providers, as well as interested consumers and consumer groups or associations. It also allows the...
It is almost certain now that China is slashing production in aluminium smelters located around Beijing ahead of the winter heating season. Recently, the government also initiated a series of illegal capacity cuts to check pollution caused by alumina refineries and aluminium smelters in major production hubs. The two-pronged strategy with one action already implemented and the other one- announced, sent out a message of widespread supply-side readjustment in the global market which buoyed up aluminium prices at London Metal Exchange. But, it seems that not all things that are visible are open at China’s end, at least, that is what the analysts opine. Senior Metals Columnist at Thomson Reuters in London, UK, Andy Home writes, "China's production of primary aluminium hit a record high of...
According to the latest Mineral Industry Survey from U.S. Geological Survey and recycling statistics published by Department of Interior, the U.S. aluminium industry purchased an estimated 361,059 tonnes of aluminium scrap during May 2017, up 2.3% over the May 2016 total of 352,894 tonnes. The U.S. recovered 312,000 tonnes of aluminium and aluminium alloys from the purchased scrap in May 2017. This was slightly up from the amount recovered in April 2017 and 3% more than the amount in May 2016. Of this, 176,000 tonnes of aluminium was recovered from new scrap, which is 3% more than the amount in April and 4% more than the amount in May 2016. Recovery from old scrap was 136,000 tonnes, slightly up from the amount recovered in April 2017 and May 2016. Through the first five months of 2017,...
According to the National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC), China produced 27.60 million tonnes of ten nonferrous metals in the first half of 2017, up 7.2% year-on-year. The growth increased 7.1% from the same period of last year. China’s aluminium production stood at 16.84 million tonnes in the first half of 2017. The production increased 8.8% year-on-year, and growth was down 1.9% over the same period of last year. Alumina production increased 19.7% year-on-year to 37.22 million tonnes in the first half of 2017, down 1.6% in the same period of last year. Notably, aluminium ingot stocks in five major markets in China: Shanghai, Wuxi, Nanhai, Hangzhou and Gongyi, rose for five weeks in a row to hit a new record high last week. Stocks totalled 1.28 million tonnes as of July 28,...
Brazil, the South-American country with the third largest bauxite reserve in the world after Guinea and Australia, and the third largest bauxite producer after Australia and China, lost the competition to India and Guinea as one of the top bauxite exporters to China. Brazil stood fifth in terms of bauxite volume exported to the world’s biggest aluminium consumer and one of the major aluminium producers- China in June 2017. {newsStudioGallery} According to the export-import data released by the General Administration of Customs, China, on July 24, bauxite import by the country from Brazil stood at 207,047 tonnes last month, down 49.17 per cent from the same period previous year. The total bauxite import by China from Brazil during the first six months of the current year was also down by...
Queensland Bauxite Limited has published its June Quarter 2017 report and updated on its progress on the development of its flagship South Johnstone DSO bauxite project in northern Queensland. The company aims to generate positive net cash flows in the short term once they start production and shipping from DSO bauxite project. The company has completed meetings with the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection and Department of Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning on the South Johnstone Bauxite Project and awaits the grant of Minerals Development Licence (MDL) for the project. The MDL would enable practical feasibility and export from South Johnstone Bauxite project. They are also completing final environmental studies and monitoring to enable the grant of a full Mining...
Fairview Architectural, a manufacturer and supplier of façade solutions throughout Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, announced the acquisition of STRYUM business, an intelligent non-combustible aluminium cladding system, from Vitekk Industries. The company is expanding its product range with this acquisition. The product comes in a range of high-quality plate aluminium façade panels, providing reliability and sustainability which will compliment company’s existing catalogue of cladding solutions. Fairview CEO, Andrew Gillies said: “STRYUM is a great addition to our product range. It meets our value proposition of being both safe and aesthetically pleasing and we are happy to offer it to our customers. We also welcome Michael’s valuable experience with STRYUM and his strong...
Power outage was the single biggest cause behind plotline failures that happened in aluminium smelters across the world from 2013 to 2017, an exclusive report by AlCircle reveals. The report titled- Potline Failure in Aluminium Smelters: Observations and Recent Case Studies (2013-2017), is awaiting release shortly. The study looks into major case studies that made headlines in the global primary aluminium sector during the period under review. Aluminium smelting whereby aluminium is extracted from its oxide, alumina, using the Hall-Héroult method, is a continuous process. The potline is kept in production 24/7, which means- a smelter cannot be stopped or restarted at any point of time. The process is essentially an energy dependent one, and any disruption to the power supply may result in...
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In domestic spot market, rising stocks and poor consumption of aluminium is creating uncertainties over the alumina market. Alumina prices are expected to drop if the same situation continues. According to an SMM update, growing pessimism over alumina prices in Chinese market has forced alumina suppliers in Australia to cut price offers. Accordingly, FOB price of Australian alumina slid $ 1/tonne to $ 305.5/tonne (RMB 2053.82/t) last week. However, today’s SMM update shows no change in the average price of imported alumina in the Chinese markets and it remains flat at RMB 2800/t today. In the Central China market, average alumina prices dropped to RMB 2,525/t today from RMB 2,535/t. As estimated by SMM data, the weighted average alumina price in domestic four major markets dropped RMB16...
Audubon Metals LLC, located in Henderson, Kentucky, is ready to expand its Henderson plant with $8.3 million investment. This would lead to the creation of 39 full-time jobs. The expansion will add production capacity to meet the growing market demand. Governor of Kentucky Matt Bevin announced this latest investment on Friday. Bevin said that the expansion also further demonstrates the strength of Kentucky’s aluminium industry. The company will construct 21,000-square-foot addition at its facility to house a fifth reverbatory furnace for aluminium smelting. The project will also include an extension of its ingot-casting line, expansion of its production storage building, and a new warehouse. The company’s ingots are used in the production of automotive parts, lighting and metering...
According to the preliminary estimates published by Aluminium Association indicate that aluminium demand in the United States and Canada that includes shipments by domestic producers plus imports increased 4.2% YoY to stand at 11,538 million pounds in the first five months of 2017. For the period from January to May, demand for semi-fabricated (mill) products was up 6% to 8,215 million pounds. Apparent consumption (demand minus exports) in domestic markets increased 5.8% YoY to stand at an estimated 10,322 million pounds. Exports of aluminium ingot and mill products from the U.S. and Canada dropped 7.7% YoY to 1,216 million pounds through May, while imports were up 32.4% to 3,902 million pounds. For the month of May, demand for aluminium semi-fabricated (mill) products stood at an...
LME aluminium underperformed compared to other base metals on the last trading day of the week ending July 29. Unable to draw support from a weak US dollar and rising crude oil prices, the light metal fell by 1.61 per cent from its earlier close at US$1,923 per tonne July 27, to US$1,892 per tonne on Friday, July 28. It seems, the effect of the news on supply side reforms is slowly fading from the market; and that is reflected in aluminium prices reversing its uptrend on LME. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that LME aluminium may retest a support at US$1,909 per tonne. On the higher trend line, there is a ‘pullback’ at US$1,922 per tonne. A break above this level may lead to a gain to US41,938 per tonne. According to Shanghai Metals Market forecast, LME aluminium should range at...
A source from China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Recycling Metal Branch (CMRA) has confirmed that China will ban imports of “category 7” scrap metals, which cover scrap electric wire & cable, scrap motor and bulk scrap hardware, from the end of 2018, an SMM report says. In China, aluminium scrap is imported mainly to produce secondary aluminium alloy, with a very insignificant amount used for making aluminium billet and plate/sheet, strip. Most secondary aluminium producers in China from Jiangsu, Guangdong and Zhejiang, which are the major consumers of imported aluminium scrap, use shredded auto aluminium under “category 6” shredded aluminium scrap. Imported aluminium scrap is used mainly to produce secondary aluminium alloy, with small amounts used to produce aluminium billet...
“Hyperloop India” – a group of highly enterprising BITS Pilani students representing India in Elon Musk ideated Space X Hyperloop Competition Summer 2017, has entered its final phase of Orcapod construction. The capsule or pod, the team’s entry into the global technology challenge to be held in Musk-owned SpaceX headquarters in Hawthorne, California on August 25-27, is crafted out of aircraft-grade aluminium. Inspired by the ground-breaking "Hyperloop" travel idea of inventor-entrepreneur Elon Musk, the budding engineers and researchers are building the single-compartment pod that will be able to travel at 1,200 km/hour speed within a vacuum tube. "Hyperloop is tube travel wherein you have a vehicle that is magnetically levitated and propelled inside a vacuum tube. The technology that is...
The industry has seen introduction of new products, capacity expansion and announcement of quarterly reports by some of the top players in the downstream industry. Let’s explore the top stories covering the downstream products vertical for the week that went by: Arconic reports improved revenue in Q2 2017 driven by higher volumes Arconic posted revenue of $3.3 billion, an increase of one per cent year over year. The company reported net income of $212 million in the second quarter. Arconic reported consolidated adjusted EBITDA of $444 million, an increase of 3 per cent year over year. Constellium reports record adjusted EBITDA during Q2 2017; revenue up 12% Constellium reported revenue of €1.4 billion in Q2, up 12% from Q2 2016 due to higher aluminium prices. The company reported net...
Aluminium extrusion is one of the most popular forms of aluminium products used every day in a number of innovative application areas. The possibilities for using aluminium profiles have no bounds. They are used for their strength, flexibility, durability and sustainability in a number of end user sectors such as construction, transportation, electrical, machinery and consumer durables. Aluminium extrusions can be given different finishes in order to customize the profiles according to the uses. UK has some of the best extruders in the market. But, there are a few that are owned by UK. The rest are either third party suppliers or regional branches of major global aluminium product manufacturers. We have listed the top five UK based aluminium extruders. The list is dynamic and the...
China finally expressed its willingness to participate in a collaborative approach to tackle the problems galore in the aluminium market. Referring to the findings of a probe by the U.S., China Ministry of Commerce called for an un-biased “global” approach to deal with the situation. At a press conference held in Beijing on Thursday, July 27, Ministry of Commerce spokesman Gao Feng claimed that the USTC report had not accused the Chinese government of “sponsoring” the development of aluminium industry in the country. Any suggestion made in regard to that was untrue. The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) published a report in June this year that examines China aluminium market developments from 2011 through 2015. The report said that China government facilitated or rather...
