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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LME aluminium prices are fluctuating in a very narrow range. The light metal contract which closed at US$1,932.50 per tonne on Friday, April 21, dropped 0.23 per cent to end at US$1,928 per tonne on the first trading day of the week. Reuters' analysis has it that LME aluminium may break a resistance at US$1,931 per tonne to inch slightly up to the next resistance at US$1,964, to stage a bounce from the April 18 low of US$1,892. The metal may peak around US$1,964 before starting to drop, the analysis shows. According to Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) forecast, LME aluminium should log higher at US$1,935-1,965 per tonne on Tuesday, April 25, with strong support at the 5-day and 20-day moving averages. As on April 24, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,927.50 per tonne,...
Potash Ridge Corporation, a leading producer of potassium sulphate in North America has announced an update to the independent NI 43-101 Prefeasibility Technical Report for its Blawn Mountain Project dated January 18, 2017. PFS indicates the production of 232,000 tons per year of potassium sulphate (SOP) together with sulphuric acid from 153.3 million tons of proven alunite reserves. The alumina-rich material was assumed to go into tailings. The PFS confirms the availability of alumina resources from alunite contained in the tailings and based on the PFS, Blawn Mountain alunite ore contains 19.4 million tons of measured and indicated alumina Resources. According to a United States Geological Survey report, processed alumina was sold for US$410 per ton in 2015. Till the time an economic...
China has stepped up its export regulations. Earlier, bauxite exporters who would resort to various ways to evade taxes are now being forced to pay value-added tax (VAT) for the bauxite consignments they are sending offshore. As a result, bauxite prices off China have increased. Bauxite miners and sellers are now raising their bauxite prices to include the tax so as to avoid prosecution by the authorities. Beijing has reinforced its check on export documents owned by large-scale bauxite sellers in order to ensure legally that they are paying their due VAT. The checks started about two weeks ago in Henan, Shanxi, and Tanjin. The effects were almost immediate. The bauxite traders increased their prices covering taxes as well. As per Shanghai Metals Market, China-origin bauxite prices in...
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) and the London Metal Exchange (LME), a wholly-owned subsidiary of HKEX, are pleased to announce the appointment of Matthew Chamberlain as Chief Executive of the LME effective immediately subject to the approval of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the UK. Mr Chamberlain will remain on the LME Board and will continue as a member of HKEX’s Management Committee. Mr Chamberlain has been the interim Chief Executive since January 2017 and was previously the Chief Operating Officer and Head of Strategy of the LME, and co-Head of Business Development across the LME and LME Clear. During his time at the LME, Mr Chamberlain has led the LME's warehousing reform process, the new London platinum and palladium pricing administered by the LME and...
Marley Alutec, the UK leader in aluminium guttering, rainwater, fascia, soffit & coping systems, is going to showcase its high quality aluminium products like Evoke range of fascia, soffit and coping and many more at CIH Housing 2017. CIH Housing 2017 is one of Europe's largest housing events with more than 200 speakers, 400 suppliers and 8,000 trade attendees, taking place from 27 - 29 June at Manchester Central. Also, the company will be giving technical and design guidance at the event. Marley Alutec has an experience in assisting local authorities and housing associations in meeting demands of the 21st century housing trends that would offer better performance, durability, sustainability and aesthetics while constructing properties. Recently, the company has helped Sheffield City...
PDR Canada, the industry leading repair technology provider for vehicles has launched a new product for paintless dent repair (PDR) on aluminium. The repairing tools use a special coating that doesn’t damage aluminium. As said by Domenic Serra, founder of PDR Canada and inventor of the repairing tools, the company had been researching on the concept of an aluminium-compatible PDR device for quite some time and when they executed the idea, they saw great results. “We’ve been working on aluminum for years, since the 1990s, but now it’s more and more commonplace,” says Serra, “We realized that we needed a system for our shops that protects against galvanic corrosion, protects the tools and protects the OEM warranties on our customers’ vehicles.” The secret, according to Serra lies in a...
UC RUSAL, the leading global aluminium producer, announces its operating results for the First Quarter 2017. During first quarter 2017, Rusal’s bauxite output totalled 2,869 thousand tonnes registering a 1.0% growth quarter on quarter. Nepheline output also increased by 7.9% QoQ to reach 1,056 thousand tonnes. Nepheline production at Timan and Kia Shaltyr increased by 8.0% and 7.9% QoQ to meet the demand from Urals and Achinsk alumina refineries, respectively. Bauxite production volumes from North Urals were also driven by the performance of the Bogoslovsk refinery. Kindia mine production in first quarter 2017 remained below the historic average but according to mining works schedule, the company anticipate the volumes to improve during the second quarter. Bauxite production from the...
The leading global aluminium producer United Company RUSAL Plc announced its first quarter 2017 operating results on a high note. The company's Q1 2017 aluminium sales totalled 985 thousand tonnes, up 6.8 per cent from the previous quarter. Value added product (VAP3) sales rose by 7.8 per cent QoQ to stand at thousand tonnes. RUSAL attributes the total quarter-on-quarter sales dynamics to the increased level of inventories in the last quarter of 2016 which were subsequently sold out in the first quarter of the current fiscal. On the production side, RUSAL failed to outdo its last quarter figures. Total aluminium production in Q1 2017 was estimated at 910 thousand tonnes, down 2.1 per cent from Q4 2016; the aluminium smelters in Siberia represented 94 per cent of the company's total...
Swisstek Aluminium PLC, the manufacture of aluminium extrusions in mill, anodized and powder coated finishes and a subsidiary of Lanka Tiles PLC, intends to expand its aluminium production capacity from 450 tonnes to 1,000 tonnes within three months, as reported. The intention behind the move is to cope up with growing demand for aluminium. An official said to the local media, “The total demand now for aluminium is 2,500 tonnes for a month. So there’s a lot of scope.” The company is hoping to provide more than half of demand for aluminium. According to company, the infrastructure progress in Dompe, Sri Lanka would lead to additional demand growth for aluminium. During last quarter, Swisstek Aluminium’s bottom-line disturbed due to increase in aluminium prices. The company’s profit before...
As an update on the anti-dumping case against China, the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has primarily determined that certain aluminium foils imported unfairly from the People’s Republic of China are harming U.S. producers. This indicates further proceeding of the antidumping and countervailing duty cases against Chinese imports by the Department of Commerce. The preliminary countervailing duty determination by the Commerce Department is due to be completed on June 2, 2017, and the preliminary antidumping duty determination is due to be completed on August 16, 2017. The Aluminum Association Trade Enforcement Working Group filed antidumping and countervailing duty petitions with the ITC and U.S. Department of Commerce on March 9, 2017. The Association has applauded the...
Malaysian aluminium extrusions export has witnessed a remarkable surge in the recent years. The shipment to the Australasian zone has increased so much that it has drawn the ire of the Australian government’s Anti-Dumping Commission to revise its levels of securities on the imports. The revisions are a result of an investigation into possible dumping and/or subsidization of those aluminium extrusions launched in October of last year. However, while the export of aluminium bar rods and profiles has increased manifold, the demand for aluminium tubes and pipes in the international market has fallen year-on-year. {newsStudioGallery} Data shows, Malaysia’s aluminium tubes and pipes export in 2016 was only 2201.37 tonnes, down 68.58 per cent from previous year’s 7007.35 tonnes. The value of...
A global aluminium smelter Alba reported its financial results as per the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) accounting rules. The company said its top-line and bottom-line performance for the first quarter of 2017 was driven primarily by higher LME prices and favourable management performance. Alba reported a net income of BD 25.6 million (US$ 68 million) in the first quarter of 2017 versus BD 4.2 million (US$ 11 million) in Q1 2016. The income increased by 506 per cent year-on-year (YoY). Alba’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray said, "Alba continues to improve its underlining performance through leveraging the recent gains in LME prices. Despite the recent power outage incident, Alba still expects to deliver strong results in 2017.” The company’s total sales stands at...
LME aluminium prices remained fairly unchanged over the weekend. The lightmetal contract closed the week at US$1,932.50 per tonne on Friday, April 21, marginally down by 0.02 per cent from its previous close of US$1,933 per tonne. The US dollar index, which fell on Friday supporting LME aluminium prices ahead of French elections, has edged slightly higher amid speculations in the non-commercial futures market. The uptrend is likley to weigh down upon the base metals, but the effect would be limited. According to Reuters' analysis, LME aluminium may test a support at U$1,931 per tonne, as suggested by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis. Shanghai Metals Market foresees, LME aluminium will rebound to US$1,926-1,966 per tonne on Monday, April 24. As on April 21, LME official...
The Department of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering (MME) at Visvesvarya National Institute of Technology (VNIT) announced last week that it intends to get a 'chair professor in Aluminium' soon. The chair, to be set up by the ministry of mines (MoM) through the city based Jawaharlal Nehru Aluminium Development and Design Centre (JNARDDC), will start functioning from the next academic year onward. According to reliable sources, IIT Bhubaneshwar is also planning to get a similar chair for its own metallurgy department. It is a norm in the academia to select the chair professor on the basis of his contribution in the particular subject and field. The 'chair professor in Aluminium' should be one who will be able to guide and motivate budding metallurgists in the institute towards...
The world's leading aluminium cans manufacturer Ball Corporation and premiere consumer goods company Unilever have joined hands to present a more sustainable version of aluminium aerosol can in the market. Rexona will be using Ball's innovative ReAl™ technology for their new Rexona and Sure antiperspirant can series. The newly introduced aluminium alloy that makes use of recycled aluminium exhibits increased strength and makes the impact extruded aerosol cans lighter by around 20 per cent. This downguaging of aluminium can sheet allows Ball to reduce its 150-milliliter aerosol can's carbon footprint by 18 per cent compared to a standard aerosol can. The coming together of two global brands has resulted in significant lightweighting of aluminium aerosol cans and ensures huge environmental...
As the world is moving forward to more modern, ahead of times and trend-setting aesthetics, aerosol cans craft from aluminium are reporting mounting growth rates all over the world. An aerosol can is produced by the impact extrusion process using 99.5 % pure aluminium sheet. These cans are consumer-friendly and provide high standards of safety and hygiene. A major quantity of aerosols can goes to the cosmetic market followed by pharmaceutical, industrial and other miscellaneous sectors. The cosmetic applications include packaging of Perfumes & Health Hygiene products like body deodorants, perfume sprays, room fresheners, shaving foams, hair colours, car air fresheners and many more. According to a report published by the International Organization of Aluminium Aerosol Container...
China’s spot alumina prices fell Thursday, April 20, on the back of news this week that Xinjiang smelters in northwest China will be cutting around two million mt/year of new aluminium capacity which have yet to receive required government approvals. The ex-works Shanxi daily spot alumina assessment by S&P Global Platts stood at Yuan 2,350/mt ($342/mt) full cash terms, down Yuan 50/mt day on day, Yuan 60/mt lower week on week and a fall of Yuan 350/mt from a month ago. A spot trade was heard done at Yuan 2,350/mt cash to full credit terms, ex-works Henan basis for 20,000 mt of refiner East Hope’s alumina sold to a trader, market participants said. Refiners, traders and smelters said Yuan 2,350/mt cash was the current market clearing rate for both Henan and Shanxi spot alumina. A source...
India’s leading aluminium producer National Aluminium Company (NALCO) has seen a strong response to their offer for sale (OFS) with the non-retail segment seeing a subscription of 1.84 times and the government has decided to retain full over subscription under the greenshoe option. In a recent interview, TK Chand, CMD of NALCO spoke about the latest happenings in his company and sector. TK Chand said, he expects aluminium price to move between USD 1870 and USD 1950 in FY18. Speaking about recent price increases in the aluminium sector, he said, "In Q4 our margins have significantly improved, so volume and price benefits have come into the company". On OFS, Chand said, "We have offered 5 per cent firm and 5 per cent optional and maybe the offer will be up to 9.2 around, a little less than...
