ABB has secured two orders from China’s Southwest Aluminum to supply integrated automation and digital technologies for two six-high aluminium cold rolling mills, supporting the manufacturer’s wide-strip production expansion and upgrade. The projects involve a 2,500 mm two-stand mill and a 3,000 mm single-stand mill, with both lines expected to be fully commissioned and operational by the end of 2027. Chongqing-based Southwest Aluminum is a subsidiary of the Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco). The orders build on the longstanding cooperation between ABB and the aluminium producer, with the latest projects focusing on process stability, control precision and production performance. Explore insights and forecasts for the aluminium flat rolled products (FRP) market from our...
India-based PG Foils Limited plans to establish a downstream aluminium manufacturing facility in Bahrain, focusing on electric vehicle (EV) battery foil and pharmaceutical foil production. The proposed investment is expected to expand the kingdom’s aluminium downstream capabilities and strengthen its manufacturing base. Bahrain’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce signed a letter of intent with PG Foils for the project. The agreement was signed by Industry and Commerce Minister Abdullah bin Adel Fakhro and PG Foils Joint Managing Director Sahil Shah during the fourth edition of the Gateway Gulf expo, which opened on November 1 in Manama. Explore: The most comprehensive and forward-looking industry-focused report – Aluminum Foil Market Report Forecast Till 2035 Hosted by the Bahrain...
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South Korea exported 19,600 tonnes of aluminium (crude metal and alloys, aluminium semi-finished products and scrap) to the US in the first three months of 2019, from 9,130 tonnes exported in the first three months of 2018, according to the latest Mineral Industry Survey report from US Geological Survey. Aluminium semi-finished products export rose 167.93 per cent or 7960 tonnes year-on-year in three months period. Export increased from 4,740 tonnes to 12,700 tonnes. In March, exports stood at 5,880 tonnes, an increase of 154.55 per cent year-on-year and 78.18 per cent month-on-month. On the import side, South Korea's imports of total aluminium from the US stood at 77,600 tonnes in the first three months of 2019, 33.56 per cent higher than the corresponding period of 2018. In...
Rio Tinto has developed Revolution-Al™, a new aluminium alloy that could reduce the weight of wheels by 7 per cent. Revolution-Al™ is the latest addition to Rio Tinto’s High Strength 3xx Series Alloys. Rio Tinto Aluminium chief executive Alf Barrios said: “As we partner with customers we’re seeing an increasing demand for specialised alloys and other products to meet their specific needs. Developing these products is at the heart of our business, from research and development, to offering technical expertise and marketing as well as collaborating with OEMs.” The new aluminium alloy could also be applicable to other market segments (ex. chassis parts such as suspension or braking parts, tools). Among its benefits include: - Wheel design improvement provides opportunities to improve visual...
China-based coal operation company Inner Mongolia Mengtai Group Co. Ltd. has reportedly started constructing its high-end aluminium alloy project, which will have a production capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year. The news came after local news media reported at Dalad Banner Economic Development Zone in Inner Mongolia on June 18. This is a subproject under Mengtai Group’s 900,000 tonnes per year aluminium plate and strip project. The total amount of investment required for this project is about RMB 2 billion. Phase-one capacity of the project is expected to come online in 2020, with a capacity of 100,000 tonnes. It is designed with eight melting and casting lines. With molten aluminium produced by the Group as feedstock, the subproject will produce high-end aluminium alloy materials that...
Followed by the increase in aluminium billet inventories last week on June 13, the inventories today, on June 20, have recorded a plunge in China due to fewer arrivals of deliveries at warehouses and moderate downstream consumption. Shanghai Metals Market data shows that the stocks of 6063 aluminium billet across five major consumption areas have shrunk by some 2,200 tonnes week on week to stand at 71,700 tonnes, as of June 20. On June 13, the inventories had rebounded to 73,900 tonnes after rising by some 10,800 tonnes on weak. As the above chart shows that among the major cities, Wuxi, Jiangsu; Huzhou, Zhejiang; and Nanchang, Jiangxi have witnessed declines in aluminium billet inventories from 9,300 tonnes to 8,500 tonnes, from 9,000 tonnes to 5,500 tonnes, and from 17,600 tonnes to...
China’s largest listed steel producer Baoshan Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. (Baosteel) will reportedly start test production at its upcoming aluminium project in Henan province from mid-2020. The first phase of Baosteel’s aluminium alloy casting and deep processing plant will have a capacity of 300,000 tonnes per year and around 6.14 billion yuan of investment will be required for the project, according to Sanmenxia City Urban and Rural Integration Demonstration Zone. Baosteel had earlier shared its strategic intention to diversify its business into the automotive aluminium sector. Last year, the company had even taken a stake in Nanjing Yunhai Special Metals, which also makes aluminium alloy. Per the report, the construction of the Baosteel’s aluminium plant is expected to be completed by June...
According to a recent report, researchers at the USA’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has demonstrated a single-step production technique called ‘friction extrusion’ to produce aluminium wire, rod, and tube parts from aluminium powder. According to them, this would specially benefit the specialised aerospace applications, where cost is not a limiting factor. A typical process of producing wire, rod, and tube parts from aluminium powder involves a lot of energy and multiple steps, such as loose powder loaded into a can and gases removed using a vacuum, followed by the can to be sealed, hot pressed, pre-heated, and placed into the extrusion press and then the can to be removed to reveal the extruded part made from consolidated powder. But this new technique eliminates all these...
According to the latest report from Aluminum Association, The Association’s “Index of Net New Orders of Aluminum Mill Products” for May 2019 declined 1.9 per cent from April 2019. Orders for flat roll products (sheet, plate, can stock and foil) were down slightly month on month, while orders for extruded products were off 5.3 per cent. Total orders were down 10.4 per cent YoY. On average, orders recorded by domestic producers through May 2019 were off 6.8 per cent from the same period of 2018. Shipments of can stock by domestic producers totalled dropped 13 per cent YoY to 312.2 million pounds during May 2019. Month on month shipments were off slightly. YTD shipments through May 2019 were down 7.6 per cent from YTD 2018 to 1,556.1 million pounds. In May, producer shipments of can stock to...
Hammerer Aluminium Industries has joined Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) as a new Production & Transformation member. The company aims to be an active part and contribute to the development of ASI organization and to provide a friendly and safe environment in all its activities. Hammerer Aluminium Industries, founded in 2007, is headquartered in Ranshofen, Austria and has 5 further locations in Germany and Romania. The company generated sales of around 510 million euros in the three production areas Casting (foundry), Extrusion (Extrusion) and Processing (Mechanical Processing) in 2018. The Group's products are used in construction, automotive and transport technology sectors Electrical engineering, in mechanical and plant engineering and in aviation as well as in medical...
Constellium was a recipient of the Groupe PSA 2019 Supplier Award in the category of Corporate Social Responsibility. This program recognizes supplier engagement and excellence, and acknowledges the important role that suppliers play in the automaker’s success. Michelle Wen, Executive Vice President, Global Purchasing & Supplier Quality at Groupe PSA, said, “This award recognizes Constellium’s dedication to continuously improve its sustainability performance. Constellium’s EcoVadis ranking has progressed regularly over the years, the company has demonstrated its commitment to a responsible supply chain, and is working to make Constellium more energy efficient, with a target of 10% improvement from 2015 to 2020.” Groupe PSA honored Constellium for its deep and multifaceted commitment to...
The United Kingdom is known for the automobile industry, followed by the building and construction sector that generates considerable demand for aluminium bar, rods and profiles. Of late, the UK’s aerospace industry has increased its operations that also demand aluminium bar rods and profiles. Besides, the UK is a major aluminium product manufacturing hub; so, the country supplies aluminium bar rods and profiles to other parts of the world besides using in the domestic market. In 2016, the United Kingdom had exported 16,820 tonnes of aluminium bar rods and profiles to several countries, which in 2017 increased to 18,905 tonnes, up 12.39 per cent. In 2018, the export amount rose further to 20,991 tonnes, 25 per cent higher than in 2016 and 11 per cent higher than in 2017. However, this...
Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) announced Lotte Aluminium has become a new Production & Transformation member of ASI. This brings the total number of ASI members to 92 and the total number of Production & Transformation members to 40. Lotte Aluminium manufactures and sells aluminium foil, printed packaging materials, corrugated cardboard boxes, and CANㆍPET bottles. The company is dedicated to become Asia’s leading global company in new materials by guaranteeing the world’s best quality and productivity through enhancing global competitiveness, improving its brand value, and technical innovation. “Founded in 1966, our aluminium foil business has been supplying diverse aluminium foil products such as various medicine & food packaging materials and electronic industrial materials...
According to the recent report, India has finally decided to impose additional customs duties on 29 US products including almond, walnut, and pulses, after delaying it for several times since June 2018. As per the report, the duties will come into effect on June 16, as the extension of the duties will expire on the said date. To recall, these import duties on the United States were decided as a retaliatory move when the Trump administration had declared to levy 25 per cent additional tariff on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium in March 2018. Since then, India had been trying to negotiate which led to the US cutting the tariff on aluminium imports. But now, with the United States’ decision to withdraw India’s GSP status and trade negotiations failing to reach a conclusion, India has...
The U.S. Commerce Department launched a new portal for Section 232 exclusion requests on Thursday, June 13. The companies looking for tariff exclusion need to submit and post all Section 232 exclusion requests in that new portal and the treasury department will post all related objections and decisions in the same portal. An Interim Final Rule was published on Monday to implement the new process, and a “User Guide” was provided in the portal with details and guidance (FAQ are also posted here). Exclusion requests that were submitted before June 13, 2019, will be available on Regulations.gov in the aluminium docket. So, the concerned companies would find all objections, rebuttals and decisions related to those requests in Regulations.gov. The Aluminum Association said that this transition...
Japan is a key producer of aluminium flat rolled products, the two major rolled product manufacturers being Kobe Steel & Aluminium and UACJ Corporation who make aluminium plates, pre coated sheets and various rolling products for value added applications. Demand for the rolled products is mostly driven by the automotive sector and the country ships a major part of its production internationally. Japan’s flat rolled aluminium production has been on the rise since last couple of years owing to the growing demand from the transport sector. In the year 2018, Japan produced 1.2 million tonnes of flat rolled products, up from 1 million tonnes in 2017. This was again up 2.3% from 977,000 tonnes produced in 2016. In the first quarter of 2019, Japan produced 282,000 tonnes of flat rolled products,...
Rusal said in a press interview that discussions over Rusal investing in Braidy’s aluminium rolling mill at Kentucky happened much before the imposition of the U.S. sanctions on its group of companies. Rusal announced its plan to invest as much as US$200mn in the Kentucky plant after the sanctions were lifted from Rusal in late January 2019 after Deripaska agreed to reduce his ownership and give up control of the firm. Some US lawmakers have urged the government for a review of Rusal’s investment in the project considering the fact that Deripaska still remains under sanctions and holds ownership shares on Rusal. “The project in Kentucky was discussed long before Rusal was sanctioned,” Rusal’s deputy chief executive officer Oleg Mukhamedshin said in an interview in St Petersburg last week....
According to Shanghai Metals Market, aluminium billet inventories in China have rebounded over the week ended on June 13, as more deliveries have arrived at warehouses and downstream consumption remained moderate. SMM data shows that the stocks of 6063 aluminium billet across five major Chinese consumption areas have recorded a rise by some 10,800 tonnes to 73,900 per tonnes, as of June 13. On June 6, the billet stocks were at 63,100 tonnes after declining by some 14,000 tonnes week on week. In Foshan, Guangdong, the aluminium billet inventory has increased by some 3,100 tonnes from the last week to stand at 30,100 tonnes, while that in Wuxi, Jiangsu, and Changzhou, Jiangsu has risen by some 2,100 tonnes and 900 tonnes to stand at 9,300 tonnes and 7,900 tonnes, respectively. In Huzhou,...
The U.S. total exports of aluminium including scrap were essentially unchanged during the first three months of 2019 compared with those of the same period in the previous year. Total exports came in at 741,000 in the mentioned period, according to the latest Mineral Industry Survey report from US Geological Survey. The U.S. exported 260,000 tonnes of aluminium (crude metals and alloys, plate, sheets, bars, etc., and scrap) in March 2019, from 263,000 tonnes exported in March 2018. Exports of crude metal and semi-fabricated products declined by 20% and 16% respectively in three months period of 2019 compared with those in the same period of 2018. Scrap exports increased by 17% year-on-year. The leading destinations for total aluminium exports in the first quarter of 2019 were Mexico...
In March 2019, the US exports of aluminium semi-finished products (plates, sheets, bars, etc.) came in at 75,800 tonnes, down 21.21 per cent from 96,200 in March 2018. On a month on month comparison, the export volume increased 3.84 per cent from the February export volume of 73,000 tonnes, according to the latest Mineral Industry Survey report from US Geological Survey. In the first three months of 2019, aluminium semi-finished products export stood at 226,000 tonnes, as compared to 270,000 tonnes in the first three months of 2018. This indicates a drop of 44000 tonnes year-on-year. Exports to Canada stood at 27,300 tonnes in March 2019. In the first three months of 2019, exports came in at 84,200 tonnes, from 107,000 tonnes in the first three months of 2018. The US exports to Mexico and...
