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...
Grow with
AL Circle
The first six months of 2017 are just over and aluminium has emerged as the best performing industrial metal of 2017 so far by gaining close to 15% in the first quarter itself. It has much outpaced base metals like zinc and copper after posting a 12.43% growth in 2016. Aluminium was the second worst performing base metal in 2016 which jumped up to be the best performing one in Q2 2017. Throwback Since the financial crisis in 2008-2009, the aluminium market has been inflicted with a supply glut. However, after hitting rock bottom prices, LME aluminium started gaining in the second half of 2016. The growth in in 2016 was driven by quick falling supply in China with the closure of capacity around August/September and demand growth as the result of China’s infrastructure initiatives. Another...
Chinese aluminium giant Chalco reported an increase in revenue and profit in the first half of 2017. The company intends to become the biggest aluminium semis producer worldwide this year, reported by Shanghai Metals Market. Chalco posted 153 billion in revenues in the first half of 2017, an increase of 53 per cent year-on-year. The company reported 1.12 billion in profit for that same period, up 1.41 billion year-on-year. The production of aluminium semis to exceed 2.8 million tonnes in 2017, the company expects. Eight out of the 10 listed aluminium companies that poster semi-year earnings reports reported growth in net profit in H1 2017 because of rising aluminium prices amid supply side reform.
The Aluminum Association has published the latest version of its longest running publication, Aluminum Standards and Data 2017: U.S. Customary Edition . The book, which was last updated in 2013, is a guide for those that use and produce aluminium including comprehensive information on all commonly available alloys and mill products -- an essential reference for anyone who works with aluminium. This latest edition contains information on all commonly produced and used alloys and is regularly updated by the association’s Technical Committee on Product Standards (TCPS) to reflect changes in the industry. The TCPS group is comprised of technical standards experts from aluminium producing member companies. The new edition also reflects the changes to the American National Standards Institute...
A steel giant Liberty House Group, headed by businessman Sanjeev Gupta, has acquired a manufacturer of cast aluminium engine and vehicle components in a rescue deal that helps save the jobs of around 550 workers. The Group has bought the trade and assets of Amtek Aluminium Castings (Witham) Limited and King Automotive Systems Limited (Amtek UK) for an undisclosed sum from administrators PwC. Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of the Liberty House Group said: “despite current challenges, this operation is a valuable asset and a vital part of the UK and EU automotive supply chain. We are very pleased to use our resources and extensive experience in the automotive sector to rescue this enterprise and enable it to recover and reach its true potential." Amtek UK, is a Tier 1 supplier to major...
One of the world’s leading semi-fabricated aluminium producer Kaiser Aluminium Corporation announced yesterday its financial and production results for the first half and the second quarter of 2017 financial year. The numbers though down compared to the previous periods beat Wall Street’s forecasts commendably. Kaiser’s shipments of semi-fabricated aluminium products for the quarter was down by four million pounds from Q1 FY 2018 to 160 million pounds and up by five million pounds in the same period previous year. The net sales recorded for Q2 FY2018 was US$356.3 million, down from US$334.9 million in Q1FY2017. Total costs and expenses for the period under review stood at US$344.9 million, resulting in a net income of US$4.7 million for Q2, which is off from Q2 last year’s net income of...
Spot Alumina prices have remained flat throughout all China markets as there no clarity on the proposed smelter cuts. The average spot alumina prices in South China market and North China markets stand at RMB 2,490/t and RMB 2,550/t respectively on July 21. Market price difference between North China and South China stands at RMB 60/t. For East China and Central China market, average alumina prices settle at RMB 2,565/t and RMB 2,550/t . Large scale producers are still conservative on their alumina prices. Chalco alumina prices and average imported alumina prices remain flat at RMB 2,650/t and RMB 2,800/t. According to a Platt’s report despite the July deadline by Xinjiang authorities, no confirmed aluminium capacity cut has been reported yet. Media reports said cutbacks in the Xinjiang...
Bauxite imports by the U.S. in the first quarter of the current financial year have dropped both quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year, reported U.S. geological Survey in their latest Mineral Industry Surveys report. The imports of dried and crude bauxite in Q1 FY2017-18 totalled 790,000 tonnes, down 17 per cent from Q4 FY2016-17 and down 47 per cent from Q1 FY2016-17. The U.S. sourced 86 per cent and 14 per cent of its total bauxite imports for the quarter from Jamaica and Brazil respectively. The actual quarterly imports of crude and dried bauxite from the first quarter of 2015 through the first quarter of 2017 are as follows: Sources: Jamaica Bauxite Institute and U.S. Census Bureau. If we look at the global export-import trade data, analysed based on a set of given factors, the...
National Institute of Design (NID), a design school in Ahmedabad, has secured Metro rail’s project for the design of signages on the entire stretch of the railway line. The project also includes stations which will connect Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. The signages are expected to be made of aluminium extrusion. NID director Pradyumna Vyas said, “It is a very proud moment for us to work for betterment of the city by contributing our designs to projects like metro rail, airport beautification etc.” The signage design project is being led by professor Tridha Gajjar. “We have been given a deadline of six months in which we have to give them designs of six prototypes for stations and roads. We have started work and are studying the metro route,” Gajjar said. “NID should take some cue from Delhi...
Alumina Limited, the AWAC joint venture, has announced its second quarter results for Alcoa Bauxite and Alumina Segment. The 2017 EBITDA for Bauxite and Alumina fell to total $325 million. According to Alumina Limited, the fall in earning was caused by lower production and higher maintenance costs in the segment. The Alumina segment, as said by the company was negatively impacted by an 11 per cent fall in the Alumina Price Index (API) or Australian Alumina FOB prices. However the negative effect was partially offset by higher sales and favourable currency movements. Alcoa has been focusing on restructuring its portfolio to leverage on low cost refinery assets and third party bauxite sales. This, the company believes will bring long term profitability to the company. Commenting on the...
South32, a globally diversified mining and metals company, yesterday reported an increase in production in all segments for the three months to June as compared to previous quarter. However, the company’s full year performance that ended in June was lower for several commodities. The company increased its alumina production by 2 per cent in the June quarter to 1.3-million tonnes. The aluminium production in the same quarter stood at 248,000 tonnes, an increase of one per cent. South32 achieved 2 per cent increase in total aluminium production at Mozal Aluminium in FY17. “We delivered record annual production at Mozal Aluminium and stronger aluminium volumes overall as both of our smelters continued to operate at their maximum technical capability,” Graham Kerr, South32 Chief Executive...
LME aluminium, as expected, failed to hold steady above US$1,900 level. After night trading on Thursday, July 20, the light metal fell to US$1,898 per tonne from its earlier gain of US$1,907 per tonne on July 19. Though the US dollar is weak, LME aluminium does not seem to be drawing any support from that; moreover, crude oil prices are also directionless ahead of the OPEC meeting. So, the contract will find no support. Reuters’ technical analysis suggests that signals are mixed for LME aluminium, and will become clear only when the light metal comes out of a neutral range of US41,917-1,928 per tonne. A break above the upper limit could take LME aluminium to retest US$1,939, whereas, a break below US$1,917 could cause a loss in the range of US$1,895-1,904 per tonne. According to Shanghai...
Queensland businesses are being hit with multi-million dollar price increases in electricity costs with some putting the hikes at 80%. A multi-million dollar price increase in electricity cost has hit a number of businesses in Queensland including Gladstone's Boyne Smelters. The revelation came after a request by Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg for an investigation into Queensland's generators over possible price overcharging. Gladstone's Boyne Smelters said that till date they have till date curtailed 18,000 tonnes of aluminium capacity due to its failure to get affordable electricity rate. The higher electricity rate has cost them more than $40million so far and it is likely to cross $100million for the year. Mining giant Glencore was affected by a 35% increase threatening the...
Gurgaon-based auto component supplier Sandhar Technologies has been selected to supply two wiper system parts for Tesla Model 3. Recently, Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla Motors twitted that “Production unit 1 of Model 3 is now built and going through final checkout.” The news was confirmed by Vinnie Mehta, director general of the Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA). Sandhar will supply the aluminium die-casting parts to a Tier I supplier overseas who will assemble the final wiper system and supply them to Tesla, says pne of the sources. Sandhar has strong and long-time experience in making aluminium die-casting parts indigenously. Recently, the company has signed a joint venture with a South Korean company Daewha Fuel Pump Ind for making wiper blades, filters and fuel...
The prices for A00 Aluminium Ingot for all major China markets (North, South, North-East and South-West) have registered a rise today, on July 20, after yesterday’s drop on July 19. The revised prices for the commodity are as follows: On July 20 2017, Thursday, the average prices for A00 Aluminium Ingot for North China market have increased from RMB 14,180/t on July 19 to RMB 14,260/t. A00 Aluminium Ingot at South China market jumped from RMB 14,205/t on July 19 to RMB 14,295/t. The price in East China market (Zhejiang) jumped from RMB 14,165/t on July 19 to RMB14,250/t on July 20 and for Jiangsu province it increased from RMB 14,145/t to RMB14,240/t. For the Northeast China market, the price increased from RMB 14,080/t on July 19 to RMB 14,195/t today. For the Southwest China market, the...
Capral Aluminium Industrial Solutions, the supplier of aluminium extrusions, rolled, sheet and coil products in Australia, has presented rolled and extruded industrial aluminium products and value added services at Brisbane Truck Show in May this year. Brisbane Truck Show is the Australia's premier event for the transport industry. Mark Murray, market manager - Industrial products at Capral Aluminium, commented: "We designed our show stand to give visitors a better understanding of the vast range of products and services we can offer, there's nothing better than seeing it firsthand.” "Not only at our own stand, the Capral Aluminium products were also out in force on numerous trailer builders' stands, including many new models. More and more trailer manufacturers are identifying the...
Iceland, this tiny island country which was once known only for its huge fish production and export is the new hub for aluminium and on the way to produce more aluminium in 2017 than the United States in the same way like two other countries with hydropower- Canada and Norway. Major Aluminium producers like Alcoa and Century Aluminum which have closed smelters in the U.S. have their smelters running in Iceland, mostly because of the cheaper hydroelectricity in the country. {newsStudioGallery} This indicates the significant of alumina import for the country which is entirely dependent on alumina to feed its smelters. There are currently three aluminium smelters in operation with a total capacity of over 800,000tpy, which puts Iceland at the 11th position among aluminium-producing countries...
AlCircle, the world’s leading aluminium industry portal, proudly announces the launch of AlCircle China , a global platform for the booming Chinese aluminium market. Team AlCircle, headed by Mr. Kamal Prakash, Managing Director of Jiwan Group, the holding company of AlCircle Pte Ltd., and Mr. Vikas Devnani, Vice President AlCircle unveiled the website today at Aluminium China 2017 exhibition at Shanghai New International Expo Centre in Shanghai. Addressing a huge congregation of industry delegates present at the launch, Mr. Kamal Prakash said, “Shanghai is the economic capital of China, and China being more than 50 per cent of aluminium producer and consumer in the world, I think, this is the right place to launch AlCircle China.” “AlCircle is not just another web based platform, but we...
India major aluminium scrap commodities prices dropped on the Scrap Register Price Index as on Tuesday, while aluminium futures prices at India's Multi Commodity Exchange settled higher as investors worried about an environmental crackdown in China to close polluting smelters. India's major aluminium scrap commodities like aluminium rod company, aluminium rod local, aluminium rod local and aluminium wire scrap showed a down trend on Tuesday. The most active July aluminium contract on Multi Commodity Exchange advanced by 0.65 percent to INR 123.00 per kilogram on Tuesday from previous close 122.20 a kilogram. The MXC aluminium prices touched an intra-day high of INR 123.25 per kilogram and an intra-day low of INR 121.45 per kilogram during Tuesday. According to National Bureau of...
