Aluminium alloy powder production for additive manufacturing is set to expand through a new technical cooperation agreement between CNPC Powder China Ltd and Xi’an Bright Laser Technologies Co Ltd (BLT). The agreement covers the production and international distribution of BLT-AlAM400, an aluminium alloy powder developed for applications in humanoid robotics, new energy vehicles (NEVs), aerospace and other industrial sectors. Under the agreement, BLT has authorised Shanghai-based CNPC Powder to manufacture BLT-AlAM400 on a contract basis in China and sell the powder internationally. CNPC Powder has also secured exclusive overseas agency rights, excluding BLT’s direct sales network and existing regional agents. With an annual powder production capacity of almost 10,000 tonnes, CNPC Powder...
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...
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President Trump said in a Tweet that he was looking forward to the results of investigations into whether aluminium and steel imports were endangering national security. He also assured that the government would "take major action" if necessary. In April, Trump signed a memoranda officially directing Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross to undertake the investigations in aluminium and steel. According to the president, maintenance of the United States steel and aluminium industries was important to U.S. security interests because both the materials are used in crucial infrastructure and defence applications. The memoranda highlighted the fact that markets for both materials are distorted by excess capacity, "much of which results from foreign government subsidies and other unfair practices."...
Metro Mining has significantly strengthened sales agreements for its Western Cape York Bauxite Hills Mine with the signing of an Oftake Letter-of-Intent with Lubei Chemicals - China’s fifth largest bauxite importer. In an announcement to the ASX today, Metro confirmed Lubei has signed the Letter-of-Intent for an initial 0.5 to 1.0 million tonnes per annum for 3 years commencing next year. A Binding Offtake Agreement is currently under negotiation. (See further details below) Metro already has a four-year, 7 million tonne Binding Offtake Agreement with Xinfa Group. Xinfa is one of the largest integrated aluminium companies in China. Metro’s Bauxite Hills Mine, 95 kilometres north of Weipa, is one of the largest independent projects within the internationally acclaimed Weipa Bauxite Region....
Jamaica's largest alumina refinery Alpart, now owned by Chinese metals giant JISCO, is to resume processing of bauxite to alumina on June 20, eight years after closing down operations in 2009, company officials said today.Patrick James, Alparts assistant managing director, told a visiting People's National Party (PNP) team, led by party President and Leader of the Opposition Peter Phillips, that after several months of repairs and rehabilitation of the 49-year-old plant, the “target of June 20 is in full view of us”. Mining of bauxite ore on the Manchester Plateau to service the resumption of alumina refining will begin next week. Actual transporting of the bauxite down to the plant at Nain is set to begin June 8, he said. James said that since the sale of Alpart to JISCO by Russian...
According to the latest aluminium recycling statistics published by the U.S. Geological Survey and Department of Interior, the U.S. aluminium industry purchased an estimated 4,14,500 tonnes of aluminium scrap during March 2017, up 7.1% YoY. USGS estimates that recovery of aluminium and aluminium alloys totalled 3,57,500 tonnes, an increase of 7.5% YoY. Preliminary data indicates that recovery of aluminium from scrap totalled an estimated 1 million tonnes for Q1 2017, up 3.8% from the YTD 2016 total of 9,79,500 tonnes. U.S. exports of scrap, not included in the government’s consumption statistics, totalled 3,93,500 tonnes through March, up 17.4% over the same period in 2016. Exports including scrap, which accounted for roughly 56% of reported aluminium exports in March, stood at 2,72,000...
According to the preliminary estimates from Aluminum Association, aluminium demand in the United States and Canada (shipments by domestic producers plus imports) stood at an estimated 6,798 million pounds for Q1 2017, up 3.3percent over the same period of 2016. Demand for semi-fabricated products stood at 4,730 million pounds, up 3.9% YoY. Apparent consumption (demand less exports) in domestic markets for Q1 2017 stood at an estimated 6,098 million pounds, up 4.8% YoY. Exports of aluminium ingot and mill products from the U.S. and Canada totalled 700 million pounds through March, down 8.1% from last year, while imports were up 37.4% to 2,315 million pounds. Imports of ingot, scrap and mill products into the U.S. and Canada stood at 898 million pounds in March 2017, up 26.9% YoY. Through...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), the Bahrain-based aluminium smelter, announces that the optimization process of Line 6 Expansion Project has been concluded with the completion of the Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study in the first quarter of 2017. The FEED Study was led by International Bechtel Co. Ltd. (Bechtel) which was appointed as the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Management (EPCM) Contractor for Line 6 Expansion Project in mid-April 2016. The FEED study was conducted in Bahrain with the deployment of Bechtel’s core team and key personnel in Line 6 Project offices at the Alba site and was supported with a larger engineering and procurement team based in its New Delhi office. Speaking on this milestone, Alba’s Chairman of Board of Directors Shaikh Daij Bin Salman...
India has an installed alumina capacity of 6.5.million tons and the reported production of alumina stands at 4 million tons in 2014-15 which increased by about 6% YOY. NALCO continues to be the leading producer of alumina in India accounting for about 45% of the total production. A very small portion of the company’s production is sold to domestic companies and the rest of it is exported internationally However, a good number of aluminium producers and cement and ceramic producers in India import substantial amounts of alumina for consumption. According to the last reported figures from Indian Ministry of Mines, imports of alumina decreased considerably to 7.90 lakh tonnes in 2014-15 from 11.69 lakh tonnes in the previous year. Imports were mainly from Australia (86%), China (7%) and...
Current trends in the metallurgical grade Chinese markets are encouraging and ABx is beginning to engage with potential customer refineries – but current prices still need to rise a bit yet. In the meantime, ABx will grow its bauxite business by supplying cement-grade bauxite for making high-strength cement and supplying fertiliser-grade bauxite for making superphosphate fertiliser. As demand for stronger, low alkali cement increases for infrastructure construction (especially in the USA), demand should increase for cement-grade bauxite of the type marketed by ABx. ABx bauxite is exceptionally low in alkali salts and is quartz-free. Infrastructure construction markets ABx may sell more cement-grade bauxite because of the proposed increase in infrastructure construction that is being...
Currently, there is an increase in investments in secondary aluminium alloys production in China and producers are shifting focus on using scrap generated within China. China generates a large amount of aluminium scrap every month. Here is an analysis of the price trends of various grades of aluminium scrap in the major China markets supported by data from Shanghai Metals Market. Scrap prices all across the Chinese market have registered a rise on the daily price index. As on May 26 2017, the price for Shredded Taint scrap in the South China market with 90-92% recycling rate stands at RMB 9,950/t, up 1.02% from RMB 9,850/t on May 25. The price for Baled UBC scrap in the South China market stands at RMB 8,400/t on May 26, up 1.2 % from RMB 9,300/t on May 25. On May 26, Clean Tapping...
National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO) announced on Saturday, 27 May, that the company registered a growth of 25.23 per cent with a net profit of INR 268 crore as against INR 214 crore during the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. The figure shows an 86 per cent jump over the net profit of INR 144 crore registered in the previous quarter. The company registered a net profit of INR 669 crore, compared to INR 787 crore achieved during the previous year and the gross turnover during 2016-17 has been INR 7,933 crore. The figure revealed that the net profit for the full fiscal year has fallen. According to the release, the company achieved 7.65 per cent growth in bauxite production by recording 100per cent capacity utilization of 6.825 million tonnes in FY16-17, the highest...
After touching the highest for the month at US$1,954 per tonne on Thursday May 25, LME aluminium has plunged slightly low to close at US$1,950 per tonne on Friday, May 26. LME aluminium may rise during the Dragon Boat festival holiday, which will allow SHFE 1707 aluminium to rise as well after the holiday. According to Reuter analysis, LME aluminium continues to face a resistance at $1,962 per tonne, a break above which could lead to a gain to $1,969. As on May 26, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,949 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$1,950 per tonne, 3M buyer price is US$1,952.50 per tonne, 3M seller price is US$1,953.50 per tonne, Dec1 buyer price is US$1,975 per tonne, and Dec1 seller price is US$1,980 per tonne. The current LME official Opening...
India major aluminium scrap commodities prices stayed flat on the Scrap Register Price Index as on Thursday, while aluminium futures prices at Multi Commodity Exchange ended slightly higher. India's major aluminium scrap commodities like aluminium accessories scrap, aluminium cable scrap , aluminium ingots, aluminium rod company, aluminium rod local, aluminium scrap 6063, aluminium scrap taint/tabor, aluminium sheet cutting, aluminium utensil scrap and aluminium wire scrap showed a steady trend on the Scrap Register Price Index as on Thursday. The most active May aluminium contract on Multi Commodity Exchange settled slightly higher by 0.16% Rs. 126.30 per kilogram on Thursday from previous close of 126.10 per kilogram. The MXC aluminium prices touched an intra-day high of Rs. 126.45 per...
Primary aluminium industry was abuzz with some good news this week. Aluminium prices on London Metal Exchange picked up on steady demand. A weak dollar and rising crude oil prices gave the light metal the much needed support to reverse its recent downtrend. LME aluminium which closed at US$1,943 per tonne on Monday, May 22, rose by 0.54 per cent to US$1,954 per tonne on May 25, Thursday. LME official aluminium stock came down from 1495350 tonnes on Monday to stand 1470550 tonnes on Thursday. In the U.S., primary aluminium production is up by 11 per cent to stand at 63,000 tonnes in March 2017, reported USGS in their latest Minerals Industry Survey. The production, however, is down by 19 per cent year-on-year, the data showed. The Aluminum Association released today three updated American...
Australia emerged as a top newsmaker in the bauxite sector in the last week. Australian bauxite sector has seen major developments from business growth opportunity and a number of companies won contracts for the ongoing bauxite projects. Guinea was also one of the newsmakers from the week. Here is a quick recapitulation to bring you up-to-date on the bauxite sector from the week gone by: Metallica appoints mining and haulage contractor for Urquhart Bauxite project An Australian bauxite developer Metallica Minerals Limited (Metallica) announced that the company has appointed the LCR Group (LCR) to undertake all mining and haulage operations on behalf of the Joint Venture at the Urquhart Bauxite project. For this, its subsidiary has signed a schedule of rates contract with LCR. Guinea finds...
Early 2016, LeEco formed a U.S. subsidiary, Faraday Future, to build a $1 billion electric vehicle plant in Nevada and the company founder Jia Yueting continued to move forward with the plan despite the cash crunch. Aluminium, with its properties, is bound to play a dominant role in order to bring the weight of electrical vehicles down. A lower carweight not only increase the battery range but also indirectly decrease the costs for the expensive battery pack. Aluminium is used in various areas of electric vehicles and for the build-up of its infrastructure including battery housings, E-drives, inverters, BIW, and charging stations. Therefore, the EV project created a hype among the aluminium industry in the U.S. After the recent financial bailout, LeEco is in a situation where it will...
The week gone by is marked by a few quarterly results, project announcements, product announcement etc. There are some positive developments in production, shipment and revenue. Automotive sector continues to drive the aluminium market, making the downstream producers focus on the expansion of automotive lines. Europe reported improved aluminium foil delivery and Manaksia Aluminium reported increase in net profit. Logan Aluminium saw new investment for automotive expansion. Here are a few headlines from the top news stories of the week: EAFA reports improved alufoil deliveries in Q1 2017 driven by strong domestic demand According to the latest figures released by the European Aluminium Foil Association (EAFA), European markets started 2017 with strong demand for all grades of aluminium...
A worldwide substitution of copper with aluminium is under way in the electrical equipment and power transmission industry. Over the past decade, the price differential between copper and aluminium has increased exponentially spurring a huge demand for aluminium as the electricity-conducting metal of choice among leading wire and cables manufacturers. Study shows, aluminium wire is set to replace 30 to 40 per cent of copper wires used in automobiles. The global aluminium conductors (used in modern-day cables) market is also estimated to grow at a CAGR of 2.63 per cent during the period 2017-2021. In India, the wire and cables segment comprises nearly 40 per cent of the electrical industry and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 15 per cent. With the Government now focusing on Make in India,...
India aluminium prices on Multi Commodity Exchange rose by 0.24 per cent to INR 126.60 per kilogram during day trading hours on Friday, May 26 as demand picked up at the domestic spot market. Speculators in the futures trade also built up fresh positions leading to the price rise. MCX aluminium for May 2017 delivery was up by INR 0.30 or 0.24 per cent to INR 126.60 per kg in a total business turnover of 209 lots. MCX aluminium for June delivery also edged up by INR 0.25 or 0.20 per cent to INR 126.60 per kg in a business turnover of 53 lots. Market watchers opine that fresh positions created by the speculators and participants in the futures market following uptick in demand from the end user industries had mainly led to the rise in MCX aluminium prices.
