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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The Aluminum Association commended remarks today by Secretary of Commerce nominee Wilbur Ross on the continued impact of Chinese overcapacity on the domestic steel and aluminium industries. In response to a question from Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Ross argued that the “fundamental problem” in the market today is in China’s overproduction of metal. Wilbur Ross made the comment while testifying before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee on his nomination to serve as secretary of commerce in the Donald Trump administration. Aluminum Association President & CEO Heidi Brock commented: “We deeply appreciate Secretary-designee Ross’s understanding of the Chinese overcapacity crisis and the fundamental challenge it is creating for the full aluminium value chain. We look...
The dosing furnace “Westomat Plus+” designed by StrikoWestofen of Gummersbach, Germany, recently won the renowned “Good Design Award” of the Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design – putting it in line with lifestyle products such as Apple’s “iPhone”. “Demands can be made to improve the working environment in light metal foundries too” – that is the opinion of Rudi Riedel, manager of the StrikoWestofen company which makes the furnaces. “We are glad to assume the pioneering role here.” In practice, the design of mechanical designer Jürgen R. Schmid also excelled with regard to its technical values: the Westomat Plus+ consumes only one third of the energy required by conventional ladle systems. At 0.06 percent, its metal loss has also been reduced dramatically. We make the...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) announced Monday that it has awarded GE Power, a division of GE, an order for a turnkey combined-cycle power plant, including three HA gas turbines that it will install to power the world’s largest single-site smelter. With this order GE Power gains first ever entry to the Gulf with its H-Class turbines. In fact, this project will mark the first ever use of H-Class turbines in aluminium smelting in the entire world. For GE, winning of this order from Alba carries further significance as the multi-year agreement (MYA) it has entered with the Gulf company through it represents the first MYA for HA gas turbines in the Gulf region. Commenting on the development Alba’s Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray said, “GE and GAMA Consortium have a proven track record...
The global metals and minerals giant Rio Tinto released its 2016 bauxite production report on Tuesday, January 17. The company produced 47.7 million tonnes of bauxite in 2016, higher than expected target set in last October with an increase by 9 per cent from 2015. After improvements of the system, Rio Tinto’s Australian bauxite mines of Weipa in Queensland and Gove in the Northern Territory exceeded its annual production record by 6 per cent and 21 per cent respectively. China’s rising demand for the aluminium ore and Rio Tinto’s strong production allowed the company to export 29.3 million tonnes of bauxite to third parties, up 10 per cent from 2015. The company’s fourth quarter exports were 12 per cent ahead of the fourth quarter in 2015. Last October, Rio Tinto set its bauxite...
New Day Aluminum Limited of Jamaica has appointed Delroy Dell as the new vice President and General Manager for its bauxite operations in St. Ann. Dell, a former Operations Director with Noranda Bauxite, will manage the mining and shipping operations of New Day (Jamaica) Aluminum. He will also be overseeing the administrative division of the mineral development company. According to a release from New Day, Dell has been in charge of Noranda Bauxite's operations since 2009. Prior to that, he managed the integrated bauxite and alumina operations for Alcan Ewarton from 1989 till 2009. In New Day, Dell is succeeding Antoine Liddell, who has been promoted to the chair of Senior Vice President of Strategy and Special Projects. As the new SVP, Liddell will be responsible for overseeing...
FIFA on Monday, 9 January, revealed its new trophy for the world’s Best Player award. The new trophy is crafted out of aluminium, brass and carbon. The world’s best player award is a part of the inaugural Best FIFA football awards. The new trophy is comprised of a number of parts such as the bottom, a carbon base, the body and a ball placed on top. FIFA says a great amount of effort has been put into making this new trophy. The new trophy’s ball on top represents the football used in the first ever World Cup played in Uruguay in 1930. It is made by a machine which manufactures aerospace and Formula 1 car parts. After terminating six-year collaboration with the magazine France Football for the Ballon d'Or, FIFA has announced a new award series for the players. The Puskas Award will be...
Automotive industry is a key resource generator for the Austrian economy. Rightly known as the 'land of cars,' the European country boasts the existence of a large number of major car manufacturers who have flourished here leveraging on the availability of a number of ancillary industries. The most common branches of the economy include aluminium processing, battery, tyre, engines, high-tech electronics, and gear and drive components manufacturing among others. The aluminium processing companies here manufacture a wide range of downstream aluminium products, of which aluminium plate sheets and strips remain a key category. They cater not only to the domestic auto manufacturers but also to the global industries. The export of aluminium plates, sheets and strips by Austria, hence, has...
Renault’s revived Alpine brand has announced its new sports car made of all-aluminium architecture for 2017 model. The latest pictures of the new aluminium sports car have been taken from Renault’s Dieppe plant. Alpine has named its all-new sports car as the A120. The company will reveal its detailed information at the Geneva Motor Show to be held in March 2017. Michael Van Der Sande, Managing Director of Alpine, confirmed on Tuesday, January 17, that aluminium would be used in construction of the new sports car ensuring its lightness and high-quality finish. Alpine A120 will get a turbocharged four-cylinder engine with around 250bhp and a 0-62mph time of 4.5 seconds. The Premiere Edition cars of Alpine A120 will be priced at €55,000-€60,000 in France. With the announcement of the new...
Collectively the five Aluminium primary producers (EGA (UAE), Alba (Bahrain), Ma’aden Aluminium (KSA), Qatalum (Qatar) and Sohar Aluminium (Oman) have produced 5,229,115 tons of primary Aluminium in 2016. “During 2016 GCC Aluminium smelter and downstream have been going through disciplined productivity improvement and cost cutting initiatives, while maintaining key competitive advantage of having most sophisticated facilities to produce a variety of value added products for local and international market. At the same time preserving its leadership position of high environmental standards, compared to the rest of the world”, Said Mr. Daylami, Secretary General, Gulf Aluminium Council. GCC Aluminium production constitutes 10 per cent of the total world production and is considered one of...
LME aluminium price rise met resistance on Tuesday as the contract slid marginally by 0.38 per cent to close at US$1,805 per tonne after night trading yesterday. Prior to this LME aluminium has been rising for 6 days at a stretch. The marginal drop which is indicative of a short-term range-bound trading is in correlation with Monday's falling oil futures after exports from Iraq reached record highs and US drilling activity rose sowing doubts over the effectiveness of a proposed output cut by the OPEC. Shanghai Metals Market says LME aluminium will leave its rising momentum behind and hover in the range of US$1,788-1,810 per tonne on Wednesday, January 18. As on January 17, LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,575 per tonne, cash seller & settlement price is US$1,585...
Metro Mining Ltd has more than doubled its Direct Shipping Ore Reserve to 96.5 million tonnes by combining the Bauxite Hills Project north of Weipa with the neighboring Skardon River Project. Metro took control of Gulf Alumina Ltd and the Skardon River Project late last year. The combined projects have been renamed the “Bauxite Hills Mine.” Metro Mining Managing Director Simon Finnis says mine construction is due to commence in the second half of this year with basic infrastructure including airstrip, haul roads and port location already in place. “The Bauxite Hills Mine will become one of the largest independent operations within the internationally acclaimed Weipa Bauxite Region,” Mr Finnis said “Combining the two stand-alone projects will improve capital and operating efficiencies,...
Aluminium scrap prices in major North American markets showed no change in movement on ScrapMonster Price Index on January 13, Friday last week. 1100 scrap prices plateaued on the Index over the day. The prices of aluminium 3003 scrap too remained unchanged at US$0.61 per pound. Other scrap products which showed a flat price trend on the Index were 356 Aluminium Wheels, 6063 Extrusions/Fe, and 6063 Extrusions. The prices of aluminium 5052 Scrap and 6061 Extrusions also held steady at US$0.58 per pound and US$0.56 per pound respectively. No deviation in price trend on Index indicates at a steady market situation where demand-supply is showing little variance. The prices of Al/Cu Radiators/Fe, Al/Cu Radiators, Aluminium Radiators and Aluminium Radiators/Fe showed remained flat. Breakage 50%...
Leading mining and minerals development company Rio Tinto released its fourth quarter production results today. Aluminium production logged a ten per cent year-over-year growth, with record per annum metal production at ten of its smelters. The recently modernised and expanded Kitimat smelter, which has been producing at its nameplate capacity since April 2016, yielded significant production results in the period under review. The quarterly production results at seven of its smelters accounted for a seven per cent rise in production vis-à-vis the production reached in the corresponding period previous year. Rio produced 925,000 tonnes of aluminium in Q4 2016, which is more than seven per cent higher than the production reached in the same period of previous year. The total aluminium...
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According to CRU, global alumina capacity is forecast to grow by 29.6% over the next ten years, reaching 179.6M tonnes by 2024. Metallurgical grade alumina capacity expansion, primarily in China will drive the growth in demand for bauxite. China's growing need for raw materials to feed its alumina refineries is expected to drive a 15-year boom for the top bauxite exporters like Australia and Guinea. Which country will take away the top supply share? The emergence of Malaysia as a strong bauxite supplier to China after Indonesia’s ore export ban faced some hurdles because of the export ban that had been imposed by Malaysian government in the beginning of 2016 and extended till March. It however, could not affect the growing need for new bauxite supply. CRU forecasts that the trihydrate...
Government of India will form an Inter-Ministerial Group to respond to Ras-Al-Khaimah Investment Authority's arbitration notice seeking compensation on a total investment of US$44.71 million that is being made by it or ensure immediate supply of bauxite to the alumina refinery set up in the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, reported sources aware of the development. The Ministry of Mines has been appointed as the nodal ministerial body and entrusted with the duty of contesting the arbitration notice, by the Ministry of External Affair vide letter No AC/202/459/2016, dated December 30, 2016. The Secretary of the concerned administrative ministry will be heading the IMG, sources said. The planned alumina refinery was a joint venture between RAKIA and the Penna Group who had signed a MoU...
Chery Jaguar Land Rover, an automotive Sino-British joint venture for China’s auto market, has started dual branding operation with Jaguar and Land Rover after the successful launch of new Jaguar XFL in August 2016. The company commenced China’s first aluminium body shop operation in its Changshu plant in Jiangsu Province which was originally established in October 2014. With this facility, Chery Jaguar Land Rover becomes the leading auto company of aluminium body technology in China. The company has spent more than 600 million yuan (US$86.7 billion) in the aluminium body shop. In April 2016, the aluminium body shop first started its operations with an area covering of 48,384 square meters. To operate the plant as a “mastermind”, the plant’s manufacturing execution system connects...
According to data provided by the Aluminum Association and the Aluminium Association of Canada, total aluminium can stock shipments by the domestic producers reached 315.3 million pounds during December 2016, down 8.8 per cent from 345.5 million pounds as recorded in the same period previous year. Month-on-month shipments declined 8.3 per cent from the November 2016 total of 343.6 million pounds. Total aluminium can stock shipments for 2016 was recorded at 4,154.9 million pounds, off six-tenths of one per cent from 4,178.3 million pounds as estimated in 2015. The U.S. and Canada's producer shipments of can stock to the domestic markets were down 6.0 per cent from that in December 2015, to 272.6 million pounds. Exports for the same period also shrank 23.2 per cent to 42.7 million pounds....
South Korea is today one of the key aluminium markets in Asia with consumption of 21,5 kg per capita compared to 15+kg per capita for developed countries, mostly driven by growing end user demand in the automotive, construction and electronics and communication sector. Studies indicate that the industrial production in South Korea will grow by 5.9% per year until 2025, driving the growth of aluminium consumption in the country. As one of the world's fastest growing exporters of industrial products, South Korea imports significant amount of primary aluminium ingots to supply their local demand and export the processed aluminium products globally. Let us analyse the trading patterns for primary aluminium in South Korea to understand the market demand and consumption trends. South Korea has...
