In the final three trading days before the National Day holiday, the South China spot market stayed soft: aluminium prices continued to edge lower, the SHFE aluminium backwardation structure strengthened, and premiums over the next-month and far-month contracts were actually elevated. Ahead of the holiday, the willingness to cash out at the high basis was strong, and amid ongoing destocking, discount-priced cargoes still dominated spot circulation; demand was largely subdued, with only localized bargain-hunting replenishment and quite limited buying interest. On the whole, however, the high spot premium for aluminium ingots in South China remained largely intact. As of September 30, the SMM A00 aluminium (Foshan) spot premium over the 2610 contract stood at RMB 260 per tonne, still within...
Hindalco Industries is moving to structured digital tenders for spot sales of metallurgical-grade alumina in a bid to improve transparency, broaden market participation and strengthen price discovery in the global alumina market. The company is partnering with Metalshub for the initiative through its subsidiary Utkal Alumina International. The move comes as the alumina market continues to lack the transparent, transaction-based pricing mechanism available for aluminium. Hindalco said only around 10 per cent of the 55–60 million tonnes of alumina traded globally each year in the third-party market is sold through spot transactions, even though those sales can influence benchmark prices for a much larger volume of long-term contracts. Hindalco moves alumina spot sales to digital bidding...
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Justin Mahy, one of the co-founders of KOPU Water Company, plans to organise a Lunch & Learn lecture on April 27 at the Key Biscayne Community Center Island Room, highlighting the importance of recycling aluminium and how it can drive towards a sustainable path. KOPU, the American luxury sparkling water brand co-founded by Justin Mahy and Mindy Mahy, simultaneously ensures both style and sustainability. Packed in sleek, elegant, re-sealable aluminium bottles , the company is taking responsibility and working directly with partners to ensure that empty bottles are recycled, resulting in a zero-waste bottled water programme. KOPU is investing in their conviction of harmonising the health of its consumers and the Earth by allocating resources to link clients with aluminium reprocessing...
According to the International Aluminium Institute, the world's primary aluminium production in March 2023 stood at 5.772 miilion tonnes, bringing the total output in the first quarter to 16.895 million tonnes. The monthly production in March increased by 9.63 per cent from 5.265 million tonnes in February but remained almost restrained compared to 5.774 million tonnes a year ago. The output in Q1 2023 registered a fall of 2.89 per cent from 17.397 million tonnes in Q4 2022 and an increase of 2.23 per cent from 16.527 million tonnes in Q1 2022. IAI data also showed the world daily average primary aluminium production in March amounted to 186,200 tonnes, down by 0.96 per cent month-on-month from 188,000 tonnes and up by 0.50 per cent year-on-year from 185,300 tonnes. In Q1, daily average...
ASCONA and D-CUBE announced a strategic alliance and the release of a comprehensive solution for inline surface inspection of aluminium profiles. The cooperation brings together a cutting-edge product that has already shown its superiority for use in some of the most advanced and biggest aluminium extrusion operations in Europe, as well as years of combined industry expertise and a global service network. "We are very pleased to add this great product to our existing portfolio. Our collaboration with D-cube enables the aluminium industry to benefit from comprehensive dimensional and surface quality improvement by a single supplier and reliable partner," said Alexander Daniker, CEO of ASCONA. Based on artificial intelligence (AI) , Promex CYRUS recognises and transforms many surface...
Innovating dismantling and automated sorting may improve the quality of secondary raw materials from end-of-life vehicles. A federally funded project called Car2Car brings together auto companies, recyclers, and scientists to answer this question. With sensor technology and spectroscopic techniques for substance identification, the Helmholtz Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology lends its experience to material detection. With a focus on the circular economy, the goal is to use more secondary materials in new cars. Climate protection aims and supply limitations in the raw materials sector do not end with the automobile sector. The Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection (BMWK) has established the "New Vehicle and System Technologies" funding programme to make...
Oetinger Aluminium GmbH, a leading producer and supplier of casting alloy ingots, has obtained ASI Chain of Custody (CoC) Standard V2 (2022) Certification for the Weißenhorn and Neu-Ulm production sites in Germany. Oetinger, thus, represents the first entity in Europe to have received the updated CoC Standard V2, launched in May 2022. The two sites produce nearly 180,000 tonnes per year of aluminium casting alloys in solid (ingots) and liquid form (tankers). A year ago, Oetinger Aluminium had bagged ASI Performance Standard Certification with Provisional Status for the production of casting alloys from scrap and recycled materials. The independent third-party audit for the current certification was carried out by GUTcert (AFNOR Group). On receiving another ASI certification, Lubomir...
Novelis, a global supplier of sustainable aluminium solutions and the world leader in aluminium rolling and recycling has released its second Green Bond report. This report details the business's sustainability-focused initiatives, supported by a Green Bond issued by the corporation two years ago last month. The paper demonstrates Novelis' capabilities to create sustainable solutions while discussing its efforts to meet its carbon reduction targets. US$280 million of the Green Bond finance has already been granted to projects to boost aluminium recycling capacity and decrease primary aluminium usage. So far, most funds have gone to initiatives in the United States, Brazil, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The report is where Novelis reveals information about its...
Taiwan’s premium frame builder Astro Tech has reportedly confirmed that it is building a new facility in Changhua, Taiwan, for producing mass-scale carbon frames alongside automated aluminium frames. Astro Tech Co. Ltd. general manager Samuel Hu has reported to Bike Europe that they will deploy a foaming process instead of injection to produce the thermostatic carbon frames. Hence, the process will rely more on automation, employing robots from Taiwan and Japan. This fully-automated facility will enable the company to compensate for local labour shortage. “I am sure that we will only be able to compensate for our local labor shortage with automation,” stated Hu. Once we have this fully automated production, we can take it wherever we want – even to Europe.” Since 2000, Astro Tech has been...
The manufacturing sector can increase productivity, optimize operations and reduce customer complaints by automating tasks. Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and process automation combined with intelligent automation (IA) can reduce labour costs and optimize production. A consistent theme keeps surfacing while discussing with clients of all sizes in the manufacturing sector. They have begun implementing Intelligent Automation, the fusion of automation and AI technologies, primarily to enhance customer satisfaction and increase operational effectiveness. AI is used by manufacturers to assess sensor data and assist production facilities in predicting the possibility of upcoming machinery breakdowns, enabling the scheduling of preventive maintenance and repairs in advance....
On Friday, April 21, three-month LME aluminium opened at US$2,422 per tonne last Friday and closed at US$2,402 per tonne, a drop of 0.85 per cent. On the same day, the LME aluminium cash bid price and LME aluminium official settlement price shrank by US$21.50 per tonne or 0.89 per cent. That marked a downfall on an alternate day after a fall of US$19 per tonne on April 19 . With the latest decline, LME aluminium cash bid price and LME aluminium official settlement price closed the week at US$2,388 per tonne and US$2,388.50 per tonne, respectively. The 3-month bid price and 3-month offer price decreased by US$32 per tonne and US$31 per tonne, respectively, to peg at US$2,398 per tonne and US$2,400 per tonne. December 24 bid price and December 24 offer price dwindled US$34 per tonne to rest...
On Monday, April 24, China’s A00 aluminium ingot price has dropped by RMB 130 per tonne to score at RMB 18,900 per tonne, with the spot contract price expected to be traded at a discount price of RMB 10 to a premium price of RMB 30 per tonne. The average prices are expected to range between RMB 18,880 per tonne and RMB 18,920 per tonne. The prices in Wuxi and Gongyi have dipped by RMB 125 per tonne and RMB 120 per tonne to halt at RMB 18,900 per tonne and RMB 18,810 per tonne. In Foshan, the price has fallen by RMB 100 per tonne to reach RMB 19,020 per tonne. As per the SMM data, Chongqing and Linyi recorded a dip of RMB 80 per tonne to reside at RMB 19,080 per tonne and RMB 19,030 per tonne. In Hangzhou, the A00 aluminium ingot price has slipped by RMB 70 per tonne to come in at RMB...
The International Aluminium Institute (IAI)'s most recent monthly assessment shows that during the first three months of 2023, the world's primary aluminium production increased by 2.0 per cent y-o-y to 16.9 million tonnes. Restarts and reductions in aluminium production outside of China mainly balance each other, resulting in a plateau. China, which contributes around 57- 60 per cent of global primary metal production, increased output by 3.9 per cent compared to the first quarter of 2022, and the growth rate dipped by 0.9 per cent in March. In the hydro-rich region of Yunnan, where power-intensive smelters have been instructed to scale back operations to aid with a severe drought, lower production is not being countered by new or restarted capacity. The weather patterns in China's...
Puracy, an Austin-based company recognised for eco-friendly and organic cleaning, personal care, and infant care products, stepped towards sustainability by eliminating single-use plastic. Their recently released Clean Can and Clean Can Starter Kit are made entirely of aluminium and are eternally recyclable, unlike anything else on the market, making them one of the most convenient refill formats ever devised and creating a new industry standard. Shimadzu's XSeeker 8000 bench-top X-ray computer topography (CT) equipment is appropriate for aluminium die cast and other metal components. Shimadzu Scientific Instruments' XSeeker 8000 is the smallest and lightest device in its X-ray output class. DOUBLE PCS Aluminium caps by UA packaging are recognised to remedy all of the drawbacks of the...
Major trading companies, domestic consumers, and overseas producers of aluminium ingots have agreed on a price of $130, up 53 per cent ($45) from the previous quarter, for aluminium premiums to Japan for the April–June 2023 period. The premium has reached triple digits for the first time in three quarters. Although all discussions still need to be completed, some manufacturers have offered $145, and the agreed-upon price serves as a benchmark. Usually, March is the time when negotiations for the April–June season are decided. Due to a difference in how producers and consumers perceived suitable prices, they were postponed until mid-April. Initial offers from producers in reaction to the premium hike outside of Japan ranged from $125 to 145. The offer, which increased 71 per cent from the...
Walter is extending its portfolio of solid carbide milling cutters for ISO N machining with the introduction of the MD265 Supreme and the MC268 Advance, two different roughing specialists. This is particularly important for manufacturers that use high-silicon die-cast aluminium. Group Atlas Holdings announced the sale of Alludium to Jupiter Aluminium, a US Corporation with over 30 years of expertise, on Monday, April 17. Jiangsu Alcha, a Chinese maker of aluminium products, intends to establish a new aluminium foil factory in Changshu for electric vehicle batteries (EV). The factory will create aluminium foils for use in EV batteries. Rossinavi, an Italian shipyard renowned for producing tailored aluminium and steel superyachts, had unveiled No Stress, a 49.9-metre superyacht at its...
In 1970, Wisconsin politician Gaylord Nelson led the charge in what became Earth Day. After witnessing the horror of a huge oil spill in Santa Barbara, California, at the beginning of 1969, he was extremely frightened. Senator Nelson combined the student anti-war movement with increasing public awareness of air and water pollution from his concern about the planet's worsening situation. He had proposed teaching about environmental conservation in colleges. Earth Day became a reality in 1970, thanks to the efforts of Nelson and activist Denis Hayes, and received widespread coverage in the national media. After decades, the movement went global in 1990. EARTHDAY.ORG (EDO), the global organizer of Earth Day and biggest recruiter of environmental movements, announced the theme for 2023 –...
The world is taking its step towards sustainability. A lot of companies are shifting from plastic to aluminium due to its environment-friendly attributes. Aluminium is the best option for most businesses as they work towards creating a more sustainable environment. In this process, firms are doing their part to move in the right direction. Ball is the first manufacturer of extruded aluminium to be able to provide its client's ASI-certified aluminium aerosol cans, slugs and bottles. It has been claimed that Vedanta Aluminium has installed sensors connected to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) in its 2400 MW Thermal Power Plant's fabric filters to monitor carbon emissions. The Global Aerosol Packaging business of BALL Corporation has obtained accreditation from the Aluminium...
Workers organised in Industri Energi and FLT at Hydro Karmøy and Hydro Årdal had gone on strike after the collapse of mediation between NHO, YS, and LO. Alcoa Corporation, the world's eighth-largest aluminium manufacturer, said falling metal-making material prices would eventually reduce production costs in the second quarter of 2023, but aluminium demand would remain robust.Delfzijl, located on the bankrupt Dutch aluminium mill Aldel, will host Europe's biggest battery. In Amstelveen, GIGA Storage BV will construct batteries the size of fifteen football fields that can store more than a gigatonne of electricity. On the other hand, Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), the world's largest aluminium smelter outside of China, achieved a new milestone in Reduction Line 6 by raising production...
On April 20, 2023, a Chinese industry expert advised that China, the largest aluminium producer globally, needs to enhance local bauxite mining to reduce its growing dependency on imported resources. Meng Jie, a Deputy Secretary General of the aluminium branch at the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA), said, "China's bauxite imports are highly concentrated in Guinea, Australia and Indonesia. We are seeing lower grades of domestic resources and the gradual decline of self-sufficiency." "Reliance on overseas resources has been on an uptrend, and we expect it to go up further." Meng's presentation reflected that China's reliance on bauxite imports grew to 55 per cent in 2022 from 2.8 per cent in 2002. Governments worldwide are concentrating on obtaining critical minerals,...
