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...
Grow with
AL Circle
The Asian countries are going slow with their coal-based power project expansion plans. A recent report titled 'Boom and Bust 2017: Tracking the Global Coal Plant Pipeline' says Asian super powers China and India have frozen 68 GW of coal power plant construction at over 100 sites across the two nations. When viewed in the context of the rising prospects of renewable energy, this trend seems to be driven in the right direction. The survey also divulged a parallel trend of ongoing over-investment in coal projects in India. These investments invariably indicate towards a potential waste of capital over the time, the authors of the report- Sierra Club, Greenpeace and Coalswarm opines. It has been found that there has been a significant 48 per cent drop in the overall pre-construction...
Urbanline Architectural will unveil a new range of non-combustible aluminium cladding products during the Sydney Build Expo on March 30 to 31. Aluminium cladding is given a new look and feel in AluSelekta, combining the convenience and safety of aluminium with a realistic timber finish with the help of the latest German printing technology. The new timber finish aluminium cladding conforms to the fire ratings and Australian benchmarks for high rise buildings. The high quality aluminium cladding with a natural, timber finish is expected to attract customers while adhering to the safety norms. The AluSelekta cladding range shares the same colours and tones as Urbanline’s composite cladding Euro Selekta. The two cladding products are flexible enough to be used simultaneously to achieve a...
Shandong Qixing Group Co., Ltd, an aluminium producer in China has suspended operations of its 130,000tpy aluminium smelter and is planning to halt operations at its 500,000 tpy alumina refinery due to heavy debt burden, as reported by Aladdiny, a Chinese information provider. The report also says that the company might consider re-starting production in six months if the market conditions turn favourable. Huge debts have become a serious issue in the Chinese aluminium industry recently as many producers borrowed heavily to expand capacity. Such random capacity expansion has also contributed towards drop in global aluminium price pushing those smelters towards loss. As an aftermath of such huge borrowing in the market, credit of all kinds dried up, causing a drop in investment in the...
French waste giant Veolia has announced that they have opened first PV recycling facility in Rousset, Bouches-du-Rhône, southern France. The plant will recycle 1,400 tonnes of material per year from 2017 and scale up to 4,000 tonnes by 2021. Veolia has teamed with PV Cycle, the Pan-European take-back and recycling association, for the installation of first PV recycling facility. The waste generated from this plant will be utilized in other sectors such as aluminium, glass and copper. Nicolas Defrenne, chief executive of PV Cycle France, said: "This first unit dedicated to recycling used photovoltaic panels is part of the high value-added strategy in our sector, recovering nearly 96% of materials while reducing the environmental impact of the collection process.” The recycling facility...
The continuous rise in LME aluminium prices came to a halt as the falling crude oil prices in Asia weighed on the lightmetal contract traded globally. Aluminium prices on the bourse dropped 0.41 per cent from its previous close of US$1,918 per tonne on Tuesday, March 21 to US$1,1910 per tonne on Wednesday, March 22. Reuters' technical analysis infers LME aluminium is neutral in a range of US$1,916-US$1,937 per tonne, and an escape could suggest a direction. According to Shanghai Metals Market forecast, the effect of crude oil prices on aluminium will be only marginal and the contract will keep moving higher in the short term. LME aluminium is expected to move at US$1,910-1,940 per tonne on Thursday, March 23. As on March 22, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,908...
President Donald Trump said on Monday, March 20 that he was preparing new executive actions to save coal mining in the U.S. and put miners back to work. "As we speak we are preparing new executive actions to save our coal industry and to save our wonderful coal miners from continuing to be put out of work. The miners are coming back," Trump told in a rally in Louisville, Kentucky, without giving any further ddetails. It is to be noted that coal miners turned out in huge numbers for the 2016 US election. Along with manufacturing workers, coal miners came to represent the condition of working-class white Americans. Donald Trump even donned a hard hat at one rally in West Virginia as a symbol of coal mining. There is a new sense of optimism among the coal miners mostly from coal mining towns...
The London Taxi Company (LTC) has opened a new car plant- the first dedicated electric vehicle factory in the UK with an investment of £300 million. The plant will produce only electric vehicles in Ansty, Coventry. The company’s new plant has research and development centre for powertrains and lightweight aluminium body structures. The powertrains and aluminium body structure will be used in all electric vehicle produced at the plant. London Taxi Company chairman Carl-Peter Forster said: “The opening of our new plant sets a number of records: it’s the first brand new automotive manufacturing facility in Britain for over a decade, the first dedicated electric vehicle factory in the UK, and the first major Chinese investment in UK automotive.” “We are extremely proud of what we have...
Metro Mining has raised $36.5 million in its 1:2 non-renounceable rights issue priced at $0.125 for its100% owned Bauxite Hills Mine located in northern Queensland. The rights issue follows the recently completed placement, which raised $15.9 million taking the total combined amount raised to $52.4 million. Of the 292.3 million shares to be issued in the rights issue, applications were received for circa 60% with the balance being taken up by the underwriter. Settlement of the rights issue is scheduled to take place on Thursday, 23 March 2017. Metro recently received results from its bankable feasibility study confirming strong financial returns for the Bauxite Hills Mine. The study forecasts life of mine revenue of A$5.7 billion and life of mine EBITDA of A$2.5 billion for a post-tax net...
Norway-based aluminium producer Norsk Hydro recently released its annual report of 2016- Making the World Lighter. In it Hydro’s president and CEO Svein Richard Brandtzæg has written a letter to the company’s shareholders stressing on the reasons behind the huge consumption of aluminium and its increasing usage in vehicle and packaging light weighting and recycling. He emphasized: “More and more discover the inherent properties of aluminium. Through innovation and product development we bring new aluminium solutions into new applications.” “Due to its light weight, formability, durability and endless recyclability, the growth is strikingly broad-based, spanning sectors like transportation, packaging, building & construction as well as electrical applications.” The CEO explained that...
According to the latest monthly statistics from Aluminum Association, shipments of Aluminum Extruded Products (extruded shapes, pipe & tube, and rod & bar) by U.S. and Canadian producers stood at an estimated 419.2 million pounds during February 2017, registering a drop of 3.3 per cent from the February 2016. On a month on month comparison, shipments were down 2.3 per cent from the January 2017 revised total of 428.9 million pounds. YTD shipments through February 2017 stood at 848.1 million pounds, slightly off from the YTD total of 2016. Shipments of Aluminum Powder and Paste to domestic markets by domestic producers, including imports by domestic producers, stood at 5.77 million pounds during February 2017, registering a slight rise YOY. On a month on month comparison, shipments...
According to a recent report from Reuters, Guinea aims to increase bauxite production to 60 million tonnes by 2020. According to the mines minister of Guinea, the country is planning to invest aggressively to meet strong demand for bauxite from China. Guinea is posing as the next big source of bauxite after ore export ban in Indonesia and bauxite mining moratorium in Malaysia. {newsStudioGallery} The West African nation has about a third of the world's bauxite reserves and one of the leading bauxite producer. Currently, Guinea produces more than 20 million tons of bauxite annually. The country has recently seen a few significant investments by overseas companies. Domestically, the Friguia alumina refinery by Rusal consumes about 1.5 million tons of bauxite produced in their mine. An...
Hindalco Industries, the metals flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, is planning to commission a 24 Megawatt solar power plant in Odisha, reported sources aware of the matter. The INR 150-crore project will come up at the company's aluminium smelter-power plant site at Lapanga in Sambalpur district. The solar power generated will be utilized by Hindalco for metal production under renewable purchase obligation (RPO). The leading aluminium producer has approached the Industrial Promotion & Investment Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Ipicol) for approving the project. The investment promotion agency has sought regulatory clearance Green Energy Development Corporation of Odisha Ltd (Gedcol), the source added. Gedcol is the nodal agency responsible for implementing renewable energy projects...
Metals and mining giant Rio Tinto proclaimed on Tuesday, March 21, that the company has given more than $900 million in contracts for the development of Amrun bauxite mine project to Queensland suppliers in the Cape York Peninsula, Australia. The company has given nearly two thirds of the total $1.38 billion in contracts till date. Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said that the company has set strict guidelines for the suppliers those vying for contracts more than $1 million. They must complete a Local and Indigenous Participation Plan as part of the procurement process. Jean stated: “They must demonstrate they are commercially competitive, technically competent and most importantly, align with the safety standards of our group.” “Rio Tinto is a substantial contributor to...
The rising momentum in LME aluminium is continuing. The light metal which crossed the US$1,900 per tonne mark on Friday last week again rose on Tuesday's night trading to close at US$1,918 per tonne, up 0.52 per cent from its previous day's close of US$1,908 per tonne. Reuters observes LME aluminium is neutral in a range of US$1,916-$1,937 per tonne, and an escape could suggest a direction. As per Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) forecast, the contract will move at US$1,915-1,950 per tonne on Wednesday, March 22. As on March 21, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,916 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$1,918 per tonne, 3M buyer price is US$1,929.50 per tonne, 3M seller price is US$1,930 per tonne, Dec1 buyer price is US$1,963 per tonne, and Dec1 seller price...
According to the latest monthly statistics from Aluminum Association, the new can stock (class) scrap receipts in the United States totalled 52.8 million pounds during February 2017. This registered a drop of 4.1 per cent from the February 2016 total of 55.0 million pounds. On a month on month comparison, new can stock (class) scrap receipts dropped 4.3 per cent from the January 2017 total of 55.1 million pounds. YTD receipts through February 2017 totalled 107.9 million pounds, down 2.6 per cent from the 2016 YTD total of 110.7 million pounds. It is to be noted that, in 2016, aluminium recovered from purchased scrap in the U.S. was about 3.54 million tons, of which about 58% came from new (manufacturing) scrap and 42% from old scrap (discarded aluminium products). Aluminium recovered from...
As reported by Platts, China’s MIIT projected a surge in the China’s production of nonferrous metals such as copper, aluminium, lead and zinc by 4.8% YoY in 2017. The rise is equal to 55.37 million tonnes. This announcement was made by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in a recent post. According to the MIIT’s projection, aluminium would lead the primary targets among other nonferrous metals as the China government has always listed aluminium together with steel, coal, glass and cement. MIIT also stated that for the nonferrous metals sector, excess capacity cuts, and restructuring, optimization and concentration of metals producers in China would remain among the core tasks for this year. The ministry did not provide any further information on it. Last year, the ministry...
Pharmaceutical packaging in the world as well as in India is becoming more innovative in order to be convenient and user-friendly. Auminium has much potential in the pharmaceutical packaging market due to its recycling potential and ease of use. "The PVC component in pharmaceutical packaging is being gradually decreased, with many manufactures bringing it down from 60 microns to 30 microns,’’ Sanjiv Jaggi, Chairman of the subcommittee of the Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP) and Managing Director (India), Constantia Flexibles, told newspersons at a press conference on Monday to announce a national conference on packaging in Hyderabad, India. Constantia Flexibles is one of the world's leading manufacturers of flexible packaging and labels in films, aluminium foil and papers. The group...
Power prices for the aluminium producers in China's Guizhou province will be raised by 0.07-0.08 yuan per kilo watt hour (kwh) from April this year, reported industry sources. The decision is seen by the industry watchers as a logical one since coal has become costlier over the past six months. Power prices, after the hike, will increase to 0.36 yuan /kwh for Guizhou aluminium producers. Shanghai Metals Market estimates the hike will take power costs at the at Guizhou aluminium smelters to 900-1,200 yuan per tonne leading to escalating losses at current aluminium prices. At present, the total aluminium capacity in Guizhou stands at 940,000 tonnes, which accounts for approximately 2.16 per cent of China's total aluminium output of 43.50 million tonnes in 2016. Since 80 per cent of the...
