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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India's biggest tax reform Goods and Services Tax (GST) began to roll out from Friday midnight, June 30. A number of products rate started affecting after the implementation of GST. Some of the products become cheaper while some becomes costlier with the new tax regime. Aluminium foils become cheaper under the GST regime. GST is a consumption based tax levied on sale, manufacture and consumption on goods & services. The tax replaces all indirect tax levied by state and central government. The GST Council has fixed the GST rate of 18 per cent on aluminium foils. Earlier GST rate of 28 per cent was approved by the GST Council. It was reduced to 18 per cent after the revision of tax rate. The GST rate for aluminium wires, ingots and rods attracts 18 per cent. The GST rate for aluminium...
The global aluminium die casting machinery market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 7 per cent during the period 2016-2020. The aluminium die casting machinery is used to produce cast aluminium parts for applications in various end-user sectors which include automotive, aerospace and defence, marine, and many more. The high pressure die casting segment was dominated the aluminium die casting machinery market in 2015. The segment accounted for about 70 per cent of the total market share. Aluminium is the most widely used die casting alloy and finds place in every type of application because of mechanical properties. The aluminium castings are lightweight and can withstand the highest operating temperatures among all die cast alloys. A rise in preference for light-weight automobiles is...
China aluminium market, and to some extent, regional markets outside China heavily dependent on the country for aluminium imports have been worrying over aluminium output cut planned for the winter heating season this year. Shanghai Metals Market observes that such concerns are somewhat overdone. In June 2017, Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s (BofAML’s) Global Commodity Research team said that China needs to curtail its aluminium capacity in order to rebalance the global market. “If the country's smelters increased production as planned, the global market would be oversupplied to the tune of almost five-million tonnes a year between 2018 to 2020,” it added. China realizing the need of the hour ordered aluminium producers to curtail their production capacity across 28 cities during winter...
Washington has recently started a probe into aluminium imports from the world's top producer of the metal on national security grounds and the US Department of Commerce held a public hearing on June 22 on the Section 232 Investigation into the impact of aluminium imports on US national security. The country is also conducting a separate investigation into steel. The rarely used section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 allows restrictions on imports for reasons of national security. China's Commerce Ministry has expressed their concern over this development during the 100-day trade talk period. The “100-day trade talks” was the result of a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Mar-a-Lago, Florida in April, which proved far more cordial than...
Chinese companies are on a massive plan to build a series of Electric Vehicle battery factories that would produce nearly 160 gigawatt-hours annually by 2021, says a report by Bloomberg Intelligence. The amount of batteries is anticipated to equip 2 million Tesla Model S vehicles or 18 million Toyota Prius plug-in hybrids every year. Demand for Lithium ion batteries is forecast to explode in the next five years due to increase in the number of electric vehicles. China currently produces about 55% of global lithium ion battery, compared with 10% in the United States and by 2021; China’s share is forecast to grow to 65% according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Chinese government announced plans to consolidate battery manufacturers to help the industry mature. The initiative is an...
American shipbuilding company Metal Shark has been awarded contract by the US Navy to develop near-coastal patrol vessels (NCPVs) for the US partner nations. The shipbuilder was selected from a field of six competing shipyards by the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), and was subsequently awarded with the $54 million contract through the US Department of Defense’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. The deal will see the Metal Shark constructing up to thirteen 85ft-long Defiant-class welded aluminium cutters for the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and other US partner nations. Under the contract the shipbuilding company will also be responsible for delivering electro-optical infrared sensors, diagnostic equipment, in-country reactivation, crew...
Recently, a media update says The Republic of Fiji has earned revenue of $2.8 million from the first shipment of bauxite in 2017, totalling $52.2m revenue since mining started at Nawailevu in Bua in 2010. Fiji houses Vanua Levu mine, which is one of the largest bauxite mines in Oceana, with reserves estimated at one billion metric tons. Despite having such large reserve of bauxite, bauxite mining has not been explored productively in the country due to difficult location and logistics, the military coup in 2006, the constitutional crisis in 2009, and the current military dictatorship. However, Fiji is slowly ramping up production and export of bauxite to earn revenue for the disturbed country. So far, a total of 22 shipments of bauxite have been carried out by the Fiji miners from 2012 to...
Team Hyperloop India has made it to the finals of the much talked about Space X Hyperloop Competition Summer 2017 to be held at Hawthorne in California on August 25-27. The first and only team from India and one out of the two from Asia is among the top 24 finalists to build the super-fast mode of transport and race its pod alongside teams from the biggest engineering colleges of the world. The Challenge already has on board finalists pitching hard with their pods made of lightweight aluminium. Hyperloop concept is based on the fifth mode of transportation proposed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk , which would enable passengers to travel between two cities at over 700 miles per hour speed. Hyperloop is a system that would propel a passenger vehicle or cargo vehicle at jet speeds through a pod-like...
LB Aluminium Bhd, the largest supplier of aluminium extrusion in Malaysia, announced its net profit and revenue for the fourth quarter ended April 30, 2017 (4QFY17). The company also reported net profit and revenue for the full year . The company’s fourth quarter net profit stood at RM1.38 million as compared to RM5.86 million a year ago. The net profit dropped by 76 per cent “due mainly to under provision of deferred taxation in the previous financial year”. LB Aluminium’s revenue for the quarter ended April 30, 2017 increased by 14.1 per cent to RM124.54 million as compared to RM109.16 million for the preceding year corresponding quarter due mainly to higher business volume as well as higher average selling prices, the company said. The company's full year net profit increased to...
The prices of two major aluminium alloy varieties in China fell on Friday, June 30, after yesterday’s rise due to slack demand in the end user markets. The average prices of aluminium alloy (A380) and aluminium alloy (A356) currently stand at RMB 15,400 and RMB 14,400 per tonne respectively. The average price of aluminium alloy (A380) has registered a gradual fall from RMB 15,750 per tonne on May 31 to RMB 15,400 per tonne presently. The price slide of 2.22 per cent can be explained in terms of temporary demand drop in the domestic end user markets. The aluminium alloy commodity had briefly gained on June 29 as it rose to RMB 15,500 per tonne, up 0.32 per cent from its previous close at RMB 15,450 per tonne. It lost the gains by 0.65 per cent to settle at around RMB 15,300-15,500 per...
The Aluminum Association, in cooperation with the Aluminium Association of Canada, reported primary aluminum production in North America (U.S. and Canada) was at an annual rate of 3,950,536 tonnes during May 2017. On a month on month comparison, the rate is down 0.4% from the April 2017 rate of 3,965,567 tonnes. On a YoY comparison, North American annual production rate slightly dropped from May 2016. The production rate in the U.S. increased 2.9% MoM, while the Canadian rate was off 1.1% indicating the consistent production rate in Canada. Actual production through the first five months of 2017 stood at 1,640,433 tonnes, down 3.8% from a year ago. On a positive note, secondary recovery and production in the US is on a rising track in the first quarter of 2017 sequentially and on a...
The Malaysian government has extended the moratorium on bauxite mining in Pahang for six months more until December 31, which was supposed to expire today. A survey conducted by the Department of Survey and Mapping Malaysia in April found an increase in the bauxite stockpile in the region. Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar yesterday said in an emailed statement. He said, “The ministry along with the state government has agreed to extend the moratorium for six months more until December 31 to enable the rest of the bauxite to be exported," “With the extension of the moratorium on bauxite mining and export, we hope the extraction from the existing stockpile can be implemented in a controlled manner and in accordance with the guidelines set by the...
SAF (Southern Aluminum Finishing Co.) announces the opening of a new SAF Midwest Branch on August 1, 2017 at 5302 W. 78th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46268. The 40,000 sq ft SAF Indianapolis facility is equipped to sell aluminum sheet, extrusions, and architectural metal fabrication services such as cutting, bending, welding and assembly. The operation will augment SAF’s facilities nation-wide to further improve customer service. Faster order turnarounds are especially important to commercial building construction customers, including glazing contractors, subcontractors, architects, design/build contractors, owners, and manufacturers. SAF boasts next business day order fulfillment for mill finish, anodized and cut-to-length extrusions, along with mill finished and pre-finished aluminum...
LME aluminium is gaining strength. The light metal which has been struggling around US$1,860 per tonne since last 14 days finally seems to be retracing US$1,900 per tonne. Rising by 0.58 per cent from its previous close of US$1,886 per tonne on June 28, LME aluminium settled at US$1,897 per tonne on Thursday, June 29. Shanghai Metals Market foresees that LME aluminium will rise to US$1,904-1,916 per tonne on Friday, June 30. However, the contract is likely to struggle at its 20-day and 10-day moving averages in the short term. As on June 29, LME official cash buyer aluminium price stands at US$1,897 per tonne, cash seller & settlement aluminium price is US$1,897.50 per tonne, 3M buyer price is US$1,901 per tonne, 3M seller price is US$1,901.50 per tonne, Dec1 buyer price is US$1,935 per...
The Curve building in Slough, the project for which, Metalline has supplied a wide range of architectural aluminium fabrications has won an LABC award in the “Best Public Building" category. The Curve is a premier cultural centre that houses a new library, café, museum, performance venue and learning rooms. The iconic project features a bespoke aluminium cladding system curved in planned section. Metalline was involved in the project from an early stage with contractors Colorminium. The building is designed with a complex geometry covering the North, East and West elevations. Colorminium was responsible for the detailed design and delivery of the full building envelope which required the involvement of the supplier from the initial planning. Metalline supplied the architectural aluminium...
The environmental scanning has been delayed in Zhejiang, China, which was due to take place in mid-June. The inspection is expected to be done in late June and early July. This prompted the aluminium recyclers and secondary aluminium producers in the province to curtail their production. Some of the producers already cut 50 per cent of the production, as reported by Shanghai Metals Market. In April 24, China government launched the third round of pollution control inspections in Tianjin, Shanxi, Liaoning, Anhui, Fujian, Hunan and Guizhou provinces of China, a move feared to strike the nation's secondary aluminium smelters with large carbon footprints. Recently, it was reported that the government would launch one-month environmental protection inspections in Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Shanghai...
According to a notice issued by the National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC) and National Energy Administration (NEA) and published by Shanghai Metals Market, the Chinese Authorities are set to inspect Coal-fired captive power plants at aluminium smelters in six major aluminium producing provinces in China. The six aluminium producing provinces will be inspected before the end of June, as reported. The six provinces include Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Guangxi, Jiangsu and Shandong. According to a source, three producers in each of these six provinces will be scrutinized. The authorities will examine the following three aspects which include: 1. Basic conditions of coal-fired captive power plants, i.e. number of power plants, whether power plants comply with rules and...
ALMIN Metal Industries Limited of Zimbabwe recently announced the opening of a distribution unit at the erstwhile Radiator and Tinning premises in Bulawayo’s Belmont. The company said it also has plans to set up a manufacturing plant in the city. ALMIN Metal opened the new sales unit in Bulawayo last week to cater to the market outside Harare where it is based right now. Company general manager southern region Mario Calaca said, “…so far the response has been good. We want to penetrate the Southern region market and planning to set up other shops in areas like Masvino and Kwekwe.” ALMIN Metal is a vertically integrated aluminium processing plant comprising a fully equipped extrusion plant and metal finishing operations such as anodizing, powder coating, and advanced fabrication. It also...
