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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As a forward step towards the construction plan of an aluminium smelter and a gas-based power plant in Iran, Nalco is sending a research group comprising of senior executives to Iran for doing a feasibility round up. The information came from a senior Indian government official on condition of anonymity. After the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Iran in May when India signed a deal to develop the Chabahar port, India’s has been working on its strategic ties with the Parsian Gulf country. Nalco has a plan to invest $2 billion to set up a 0.5 million tonne per annum smelting facility in Iran and to produce aluminium at a lesser cost. After the U.S. and other western nations eased the sanctions on Iran, firms are queuing up for projects in the nation rich in natural resources. In...
After consulting domestic aluminium manufacturers, state-run engineering consultant Mecon Ltd in a recent report submitted to the ministry of mines has recommended imposition of minimum import price (MIP) on primary aluminium to guard the industry against cheap imports. InfraCircle on 25 October reported about the Aluminium Association of India—a lobby group with firms such as Vedanta Ltd, Hindalco Industries Ltd and National Aluminium Co. Ltd (Nalco) as members—hiring Mecon to prepare a report to explore the possibility of introducing MIP on aluminium products. “We have recently received a report from Mecon in which it says that MIP shall be imposed on primary aluminium as cost of production of domestic aluminium manufacturers is higher than the London Metal Exchange (LME) prices. We are...
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) announced yesterday that a team of materials science researchers is developing the first commercially viable process for recovering valuable metals from red mud, a hazardous byproduct of aluminium production that is currently stored in holding ponds around the world. “We’re trying to help the environment by getting rid of these ponds, which can leak and destroy surrounding ecosystems,” said reserach team leader Brajendra Mishra, director of WPI’s Center for Resource Recovery and Recycling (CR3). “If our process is successful, we can produce a valuable product while also reclaiming that land.” The process the WPI team has developed and extensively tested in the lab can extract a magnetic reduced iron oxide from red mud. The material can then be sold to...
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India’s imports of aluminium products have been rising over the last two years though at a ‘not-so-unusual rate’ as has been the buzz in certain segments of the industry in recent times. Considering the country’s overall growth, the imports have shown a rather marginal increase. Aluminium products including aluminium bars, rods, and profiles, wire, foils, cans and containers, plates, sheets and strips, and structures comprise a major percentage of India’s total aluminium import which has charted a year-over-year growth as depicted in the below table: Data Courtesy: Industry Source From the above table it is evident that imports have grown marginally by 1, 79,431 mt only in absolute terms in 4 years from 2011-12 to 2015-16 but as a percentage in terms of India’s production of aluminium, it...
Emirates Global Aluminium’s Al Taweelah alumina refinery in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi, adjacent to EGA’s Al Taweelah smelter and Khalifa Port is almost complete with 60 per cent of construction over for the Calciners section. The overall construction of the $3bn refinery is 37 per cent complete with about 6,000 to 10,000 manpower engaged in the work. The refinery is a part of UAE’s recent expansion programme in the upstream section of the aluminium value chain and it is only the second refinery to be built in the Middle East. The Al Taweelah plant will refine about five million tonnes of bauxite ore annually which will be imported each year from the Republic of Guinea. EGA’s Al Taweelah smelter project is one of the largest single-site aluminium smelters in the world. The Al...
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LME aluminium's downward journey along the price graph enters its second day since it marked a reversal on November 15, Tuesday. The contract closed at US$1,719/mt on the exchange on Wednesday after being traded at US$1,727 the previous day. The current LME official cash buyer price of aluminium stands at US$1,718.50/mt. The decline is correlated with the surge in the U.S. Dollar index, which hit a one-year high following President-Elect Donald Trump’s victory last week. As per Shanghai Metals Market forecast, LME aluminium will keep downward momentum on Thursday and test support at the 40-day moving average. The contract is predicted to move between US$1,687-1,714/mt on Thursday. Goldman Sachs has raised its 3-month, 6-month and 12-month forecast for base metals prices on Tuesday,...
Metro Mining appears to have won a prolonged takeover battle for Gulf Alumina Ltd. Metro launched its bid for Gulf last December. Gulf, a public unlisted company, owns the Skardon River bauxite project bisecting Metro’s Bauxite Hills’ project north of Weipa on Western Cape York. Initially Metro gained 22% of Gulf to become the company’s largest shareholder. Subsequently this holding was increased to 39%. In September Perth based Moly Mines Ltd, which was suspended from trading by the ASX in April 2014, made a surprise bid for Gulf. Metro quickly responded with a superior offer. Moly then revised its offer. The Gulf Board today adjudged that the new Moly offer did not match the existing Metro Offer and unanimously recommended that Gulf shareholders accept Metro’s Offer. Metro Mining is set...
As presented during the 2016 CMRA (China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association Recycling Metal Branch) Annual Convention on 7-9 November in Guangzhou, China, recyclers in the United States, Japan and Europe are looking for domestic and export homes for scrap instead of sourcing them from China. According to Mark Lewon, president of the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) and nonferrous recycler with Utah Metal Works in the U.S, despite the Chinese scrap export boom, “most of the scrap processed in the U.S. is consumed domestically.” As presented in Lewon’s statistics, for three of the major secondary commodities, domestic consumption volume in the U.S. is larger than the export volume. Ferrous scrap is the least export-dependent, with 83% of it consumed domestically. It...
Alliance Mining Commodities (AMC), a Bermudan minerals development company has signed a merger term sheet with MHM Metals of Melbourne, Australia, reported industry sources aware of the matter. The proposed merger will be implemented by way of a scrip exchange, at an indicative merger ratio of 15% MHM and 8% AMC. The entire process is subject to MHM maintaining net assets of no less than A$7-million at the time of signing the transaction documentation. AMC, which owns a 90 per cent interest in the Koumbia bauxite project, in Guinea, is known for its capabilities in developing bulk commodity and infrastructure projects. The proposed merger will provide MHM with the opportunity to leverage upon the mineral company's world-class project thereby helping it to create a new, substantial...
Central European Aluminium Company, CEAC, which is owned by Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska is suing the government of Montenegro for “hundreds of millions of euros” over the failure of its KAP plant in the capital Podgorica, a press release by the firm says. The case will be heard in Cyprus, which is the base location for CEAC. The company alleges that the plant went bankrupt as Montenegro violated a 2010 settlement agreement. The company however, did not specify the compensation amount in the media release. The CEAC’s director for corporate affairs, Andrei Petrushinin said that they had been urging Montenegro to find a fair solution to the dispute regarding the plant. In response to the claims, the government in Podgorica said that the company lost a case against Montenegro in Paris...
Emirates Global Aluminium has bagged a prestigious order from the German luxury car maker BMW for supplying high-quality aluminium for use in the car engines, reported a recent release. The three-year contract is EGA's first direct deal of its kind with an automotive major which also acknowledges the enhanced efforts by the Gulf company to help diversify their economy beyond oil. The financial details and the car models wherein the metal would find use, however, have not yet been divulged. "Winning BMW as a direct customer is important for EGA because their standards are so high, both for the aluminium itself and how it is made," said EGA managing director and chief executive Abdulla Kalban. "EGA produces high-quality aluminium with world-class efficiency and environmental...
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), the Bahrain-based international aluminium smelter, in line with its commitment to achieve the 2016 Expectations, held a one-day ‘2016 Expectations Review’ meeting with the Management on November 08, 2016 at the Alba Club, Riffa. In line with the CEO’s Expectations for the Year 2016, the meeting was held for Alba Management officials to apprise Alba Executives and Directors on the progress of their respective departments’ objectives for 2016 in the subcategories of safety, cost reduction, Line 6 Expansion Project and such. During the meeting, the year-to-date results of all departments’ were also discussed and evaluated by Chief Executive Officer, Tim Murray. Speaking about the 2016 Expectations Review’ meeting, CEO Tim Murray said: “We believe that review...
The U.S. is one of the largest producers of aluminium cans in the world. Aluminium can manufacturers in the U.S. are an important part of the economy. Can manufacturers and the supplier of can sheets put together, form one of the largest job providers and a revenue sources to the state and federal governments. The U.S. is also one of the leading exporters of aluminium cans around the globe. The U.S. is estimated to export 90991 tons of aluminium cans in 2016 as compared to 50711 tons of aluminium cans in 2015. This records a growth of about 80 per cent YOY. In last two years, US export of cans is increasing with capacity ramp up in the US facilities and also because of the growing demands for can globally. The estimated total cost for the export volume amounts to US$ 432 million in 2016...
One of the biggest aluminium companies in Romania and in Europe, Alro Slatina reported financial results for the first nine months of 2016. The company's net profit slid by 35.12 per cent from the same period of previous fiscal to stand at RON 94.25 million. Turnover in the first quarter also declined 11 per cent from the corresponding period previous year. Alro management attributed the loss in profitability to unfavorable evolution of the international pricing quotas of the aluminium. In the first nine months of the current fiscal, Alro Slatina reported increased aluminium production of 205,400 tonnes, up 1.13 per cent YoY. Processed aluminium production totalled at 57,500 tonnes, down 3.84 per cent YoY. Revenue generation as also lower at RON 1.58 billion, a decline by 10.73 per cent...
LME aluminium has again set out for a journey downslope the price graph. With the US dollar index strengthening, market sentiment got depressed, and LME official cash buyer price of aluminium slid from US$1,765/mt on Monday to US$1,725/mt on Wednesday, November 16. After Tuesday's night trading, the metal closed at US$1,727/mt. LME aluminium will test the 20-day moving average and move between US$1,705-1,740/mt, says Shanghai Metals Market forecast. As per data recorded on November 14, LME Aluminium US Premium stands at US$155, LME Aluminium West-Europe Premium is at US$80, LME Aluminium East-Asia Premium is at US$65, and LME Aluminium South-East Asia Premium is at US$15. The current LME Official opening stock of aluminium is estimated at 2160475 tonnes. In China, aluminium traded on...
The Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), the Voice of the Recycling Industry™, celebrates America Recycles Day today by applauding all individuals who make a strong effort to recycle as part of daily life, and encouraging all to learn more about recycling and the industry. America Recycles Day, a national initiative of Keep America Beautiful, takes place every November 15 in an effort to promote and celebrate recycling in the U.S. “Each year America Recycles Day provides us with an important reminder not only of the need to recycle, but also the positive impact the recycling industry has on the environment, energy savings, and the economy,” said Robin Wiener, president of ISRI.” Recycling is the first link in the manufacturing supply chain. Just last year, the U.S. recycling...
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Ardagh came out as one of the main winners in the prestigious international 2016 Canmaker Cans of the Year awards with two category gold medals and two silver medals. The feature that is common to all four successes is packaging innovation targeted at maximising customer benefits and consumer convenience. A patented threaded screw top finish, designed for on the go consumption on the reclosable 250ml aluminium bottle for the Coca Cola Zero and Diet Coke brands earned Ardagh Gold in the coveted Bottle category. This feature also allows The Coca Cola Company to gain maximum efficiencies by filling its products on standard glass bottling lines using market standard closures. Gold was also gained for Ardagh’s unique metal microwaveable fondue bowl for Emmi, one of Europe’s most innovative...
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Alumina prices have been rising globally over the last two months. In October, the prices rose rather steeply enticing integrated aluminium producers with alumina refining operations to gradually move to the alumina price index for pricing their products. Earlier, most standalone alumina companies and even aluminium companies would consider a percentage of aluminium prices to price their products. But now, they are making a shift to the alumina price index. Alcoa, the newly formed upstream company formed from the erstwhile aluminium producer of the same name, is expected to deliver a strong near-term performance boosted by higher alumina prices, marked analysts at Market Realist. The following graph shows the alumina price movement during October 2014 - October 2016: Alcoa was the top...
