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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According to Preliminary estimates, aluminium demand in the United States and Canada that include shipments by domestic producers plus imports totalled an estimated 13 million tons in 2016, up 2.0 per cent over 2015. Demand for semi-fabricated (mill) products totalled 9.1 million tons, slightly up YOY. Apparent consumption (demand less exports) in domestic markets totalled an estimated 11.5 million tons, up 1.2 per cent YOY. Demand for aluminium semi-fabricated (mill) products in the United States and Canada including shipments by domestic producers plus imports remains flat YOY at an estimated 6,71,000 tons in December. Shipments of aluminium sheet and plate stood at 3,90,500 tons in December. Extruded product shipments were off 3.3 per cent YOY to 1,83,000 tons. Estimated shipments of...
The eleventh METEF, to be held at VeronaFiere from 21 st to 24 th June 2017 , is the world’s reference event for the aluminium, innovative metals, foundry equipment and solutions sector, and the automotive and transport division is the driver for all the industrial induced activities. The countdown of the show already marks out the data that validates METEF as a must-go event for international operators: over 400 exhibitors (30% from abroad) and a very large number of professional visitors (over 10,000 in 2014, 35% from foreign countries). “METEF has gone through the deep structural evolution of the global economy, in particular for what concerns the foundry and aluminium sector, and has adapted to the market development by updating its contents and communication strategies in order to...
According to UAE Civil Defence’s Fire and Life Safety Code of Practice, the panel manufacturers who sell “non-listed materials” in the construction processes for building in the UAE are punishable and illegal. In August 2016, Alucopanel Middle East, a subsidiary of Danube Group, has started a new manufacturing plant producing A2 fire-rated aluminium composite panels (ACP) in order to supply in accordance to this requirement. Alucopanel has spent a $27.2m in the manufacturing plant of ACP. The new panels are produced with a non-combustible mineral core consisting mainly of magnesium hydroxide. The ACP panels have now been widely used on Dubai and across the Gulf. Zohaib Rahman, the head of panel-manufacturer, Alucopanel Middle East, said that for installing Alucopanel’s A2 fire-rated...
Australian Bauxite Ltd (ABx) announced today that the company has identified high quality refractory-grade bauxite in Penrose state pine forest, en route to Port Kembla in New South Wales, Australia. There is a worldwide market for refractory-grade bauxite that is fairly a high-priced - ABx expects to leverage upon this market to grow its business in the long term. Commenting on the finding, ABx CEO, Ian Levy said; "In late 2015, the company was granted its long-awaited tenement over Penrose state pine forest which is close to transport infrastructure and suited to quarrying during forest harvest cycles. The discovery of a thick layer of high-value refractory-grade bauxite is a positive development. Exploration of extensions to this deposit will continue simultaneously with market testing...
Italian yard Rossinavi has unveiled its new superyacht Endeavour II made from all-aluminium. The superyacht comes with a 49.9-metre and it is knowns as project FR032. The Endeavour II is designed by Team 4 Design, the luxury yacht designer. The new superyacht’s naval architecture is done by Arrabito and interior decor by Salvagni Architetti. The yacht comprises a total volume of less than 500GT. Up to 10 guests can sleep in the yatch as well as a crew of 9. The Endeavour II is powered by by 2 x CGT/Caterpillar (CAT) C32 Acert engines and runs at a maximum speed of 16 knots and a cruising speed of 12 knots. The all-aluminium superyacht comes with a diesel-electric engine that drives the two Rolls Royce azimuthing pods. Gabriele Zucconi, chief engineer, appreciated the naming of Endeavour...
China's aluminium semi-finished products imports declined in January 2017, revealed data released by the General Administration of Customs, China, on February 24. The import volume totalled 26,740 tonnes, down 26.2 per cent from January 2016. Total aluminium alloy import also shrunk totalling 4,098 tonnes, down 28.17 per cent from the same period of previous year. Exports, on the other hand, surged for both aluminium semi-finished and finished products. Aluminium semi-finished product exports for January 2017 were up by 5.3 per cent, while finished products shipments ballooned by 21.87 per cent. Aluminium alloy exports for the month, however, have come down by 5.82 per cent year-on-year. {newsStudioGallery} Total import of aluminium bar rods and profiles by China in January this year...
Century Aluminum Company reported a net loss of $168.5 million for Q4 2016 in comparison to the net loss of $43.1 million in Q4 2015. Results were negatively impacted by a $152.2 million impairment charge related to the Helguvik project in Iceland and $6.9 million charge related to discrete tax items. The fourth quarter adjusted net loss was $11.5 million. The loss was partially offset by a favourable $2.1 million market inventory adjustment. Total sales value dropped from $383.9 million in Q4 2015 to $339.8 million in Q4 2016. The company shipped 183,210 tonnes of primary aluminium for Q4 2016 compared with 211,710 tonnes shipped in Q4 2015. The decrease in sales and shipment volume was primarily due to capacity curtailment that took place in Q4 2015. Net cash provided by operating...
Nokia, a brand used by Finnish company HMD, has released on Sunday its three android smartphones: the Nokia 6, Nokia 5 and Nokia 3 along with the relaunched of Nokia 3310 at MWC 2017 in Barcelona. The Nokia 6 sports a unibody design crafted from a single block of 6,000 series aluminium. It has Dolby Atmos, designed to give audio a more 3D sound effect. The android phone has a 5.5 inch full-HD screen with 2.5D Gorilla Glass and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 processor. The device gets 16 megapixel rear camera and an 8 megapixel front-facing camera. The Nokia 6 will be available in Q2 of 2017 at a price of €229 in Matte Black, Silver, Tempered Blue and Copper colours. Nokia 3 comes with an aluminium frame forged out of a single piece of aluminium. It has a 5-inch display and is...
According to the recent aluminum recycling statistics by the U.S. Geological Survey and Department of Interior published by the Aluminum Association, the U.S. aluminium industry purchased an estimated 370500 tons of aluminium scrap during December 2016, which registers a 9.0 per cent increase over the December 2015 total of 340000 tons . USGS estimates that U.S. aluminium industry recovered 317000 tons of aluminium and aluminium alloys in December 2016, an increase of 10.1 per cent YOY. According to the preliminary data for 2016 full year, recovery of aluminium from scrap totalled an estimated 3.9 million tons, up 7.0 per cent over the 2015 total of 3.7 million tons. U.S. exports of scrap which accounts for about 50 per cent of total export and is not included in the government’s...
LME aluminium prices hovered at lows last week weighed on by a strong dollar. On Friday, the lightmetal rebounded on renewed fears over the Chinese supply cuts but ended low at US$1,877 per tonne, down 29.2 per cent from the previous day's closing at US$1,882 per tonne. Reuters technical analysis states LME aluminium may retrace to a support at US$1,872 per tonne as it faces resistance at US$1,889 per tonne. Shanghai Metals Market (SMM) in its forecast says the contract will move at US$1,875-1,895 per tonne range on Monday, February 27. As on February 24, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,876 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$1,877 per tonne, 3M buyer price is US$1,880 per tonne, 3M seller price is US$1,881 per tonne, Dec1 buyer price is US$1,925 per...
Metro Mining Limited has launched a $52.4 million equity raising to advance its Bauxite Hills Mine 95 km north of Weipa. The company also plans to repay loan facilities that supported its recent acquisition of neighbouring Gulf Alumina Ltd (December last year.) The Gulf takeover resulted in Metro doubling its Direct Shipping Ore Reserve to 96.5 million tonnes. It also gained vital infrastructure including airstrip, haul roads and a port site on the Skardon River. The $52.4 million equity raising will involve the issue of approximately 419.4 million fully paid ordinary shares at $0.125 per share with a placement of approximately 126.9 million New Shares to institutional and sophisticated investors to raise up to $15.9 million. A one for two pro-rata non-renounceable entitlement offer of...
AlCircle outlines the downstream aluminium industry developments through its weekly recap. From the past week the industry has seen many acquisitions, investments, agreements and announcement of yearly reports by some of the top players in the downstream industry. Let’s explore the top stories covering the downstream products vertical for the week that went by: Norican Global to acquire Light Metal Casting Solutions Group Norican Global, a leading metallic parts enhancement company has entered into an agreement with Auctus Fund III GmbH & Co. KG, and its fellow investors collectively referred to as "Auctus" to buy 100% of their shares in Light Metal Casting Solutions Group. Ma’aden and SNAM ink cooperation agreement to increase aluminium content in vehicles The Saudi Arabian Mining...
The week ended February 25 saw many major aluminium producers, with and without integrated operations, losing their last quarter or full year margins to alumina prices. Alcoa's Australian partner Alumina Limited who reported full year result for 2016 on February 23, registered a loss of $US30.2 million ($A39.3 million) down from a $US88.3 million ($A114.8 million) profit in 2015. The loss, although attributed mainly to restructuring-related write-offs, was also due to lower alumina prices in the first half of the year, and lower volumes after curtailing capacity across its refineries. Century Aluminum Company also reported a net loss of $168.5 million ($1.93 per share) for the fourth quarter of 2016 proving analysts' projections of it staging a turnaround wrong. Results were negatively...
A billet is one of the most widely used aluminium product forms globally. Billets are created directly through continuous casting or extrusion or indirectly through hot rolling an ingot or bloom. The billet is normally suitable for alloyed aluminium. The foundry combines raw aluminium with other metals and/or minerals to form different alloys and grades of aluminum. Once the materials are combined, smelted, and all impurities removed...billets are formed by placing the aluminum in a form under intense pressure. The high pressure removes all air and gas bubbles, aligns the molecules forming a solid block of aluminum that is high in density without any visible grains or defects. The size and shape of the billet depends on the part which is to be carved out of it. Billets can be further...
Prebaked anode prices in China’s domestic market rose by about 620 yuan per tonne in January 2017 after Shandong Weiqiao raised its procurement price. SMM finds that the Chinese prebaked anode market has shifted from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market. Domestic prebaked anode prices advanced around 580 yuan per tonne as a whole in January, the highest in recent years. The rising strength is continuing into February. At present, ex-works prices of prebaked anode are 3,200-3,540 yuan per tonne in east China, up 105 yuan per tonne from January's level. SMM attributes the gain to following three factors: First, prices of petroleum coke and coal tar pitch, main raw materials of prebaked anode, have advanced all the way as crude oil and coking coal rose since November 2016. In Shandong,...
Aditya Birla Group owned Hindalco Industries has planned big investment worth INR 500-700 crore on de-bottlenecking its Utkal alumina refinery project in Odisha's Rayagada district. The company has now applied for clearance up to 2.25 mtpa from 1.5 mtpa for its Utkal alumina refinery. During the recent conference call after its 3 rd quarter results, Satish Pai, managing director of Hindalco said, “...I think in 2017-18 we would have got the complete engineering and the de-bottlenecking sorted out.” “ So, really it is a question of whether you put in a completely new train or just de-bottlenecking and to be clear, our preference right now is to de-bottleneck and that is why we have applied for clearances to go up to about 2.25 (million tonne) as a first range.” The de-bottlenecking on...
California’s semi-fabricated aluminium maker Kaiser Aluminium has announced its fourth quarter and full year 2016 result posting better numbers for both the periods. The 2016 report states net sales of $332 million in 4 th quarter, slightly up quarter-on-quarter from last quarter’s total $321 million. The company’s net income for the quarter is at $25 million compared to last quarter's total of $15 million. The adjusted EBITDA margin stands at 25.8% with an increase of 3 per cent vs last quarter and adjusted EBITDA in the quarter stands at USD52 million higher than quarter-on-quarter from Q3’s total of USD45 million. The company’s full year 2016 sales result stands at $1.331 billion, slightly lower than 2015’s total of $1.392 billion. Its value added revenue Up 3% to $813 million from...
The small island country of Bahrain together with four other Gulf countries- the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar, has changed the face of the Gulf from being a solely oil driven economy to a manufacturing hub accounting for 10 per cent the world's total production of aluminium. About 40 per cent of the total aluminium production (5,229,115 tonnes) in GCC today is utilized by the downstream aluminium industries here while the rest 60 per cent gets exported to different parts of the world. Bahrain's prime aluminium producer Aluminium Bahrain (ALBA) is one of the world's largest aluminium smelters and is known for its technological strength and high quality aluminium. {newsStudioGallery} Alba operates 5 potlines and its total hot metal production capacity stands at 971,420 tonnes per...
