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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Arconic Inc. reported first quarter 2019 results on April 30, reporting 3% YoY growth in revenues to US$3.5 billion. Organic revenue was up 9% on strong volumes across all segments and all key markets, including aerospace, defence, commercial transportation, automotive, packaging, and building and construction end markets, as well as favourable aerospace pricing. The company reported a net income of US$187 million versus net income of US$143 million in the first quarter of 2018. Net income excluding special items stood at US$208 million compared to US$169 million in the first quarter 2018. The company reported an operating income of US$374 million, up 12% YoY. Operating income excluding special items stood at US$397 million, up 15% YoY. Operating income margin excluding special items was...
According to the preliminary estimates from Aluminum Association, aluminium demand in the United States and Canada, including shipments by domestic producers plus imports stood at an estimated 2.1 million tonnes for January and February 2019, slightly down from the same period of 2018. Demand for semi-fabricated (mill) products stood at 1.5 million tonnes, up 1.1 percent. Apparent consumption (demand less exports) in domestic markets totalled an estimated 1.8 million tonnes, slightly up YoY. Imports of aluminium ingot, scrap and mill products into the U.S. and Canada (excluding cross-border trade) stood at 297,103 tonnes in February 2019, off 17.8 per cent from the February 2018 total of 361,513 tonnes. Including aluminium scrap, which accounted for roughly 61.2 percent of reported...
AMAG Austria Metall AG has reported results for Q1 2019. The AMAG Group's revenue increased by 4 % YoY from EUR 263.2 million to EUR 274.4 million, driven by higher volume in the Rolling Division. Shipment volumes were up by 10 % to 111,600 tonnes in Q1 2019 compared to Q1 2018. Higher shipment volume was driven by positive ramp-up of the new plants in the Rolling Division and the new melting furnace in the Casting Division. EBITDA for Q1 amounted to EUR 33.0 million in Q1 2019, compared with EUR 38.9 million in Q1 2018. Falling aluminium prices in the first quarter coupled with higher raw material costs had a negative impact on the earnings in the Metal Division which dropped from EUR 10.6 million to EUR 0.1 million. The higher shipments volumes partially offset this effect. EBITDA in...
Constellium reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019.The company reported revenue of €1.5 billion in Q1 2019, up 11% compared to the first quarter of last year. This was due to the consolidation of Bowling Green and improved price and mix, partially offset by lower metal prices. Adjusted EBITDA increased 12% to €135 million on improved results in the Aerospace and Transportation and Packaging and Automotive Rolled Products segments. Shipments increased 6% year-on-year to 413 thousand tons primarily due to the Packaging and Automotive Rolled Product segment.Net income of €24 million improved compared to a net loss of €24 million in the first quarter of 2018. Jean-Marc Germain, Constellium’s Chief Executive Officer said, “Constellium delivered strong results in the first...
Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance has announced the acquisition of two vehicle components suppliers in French. Through its industrial business Liberty, GFG has become the owner of Saint Jean Industries Poitou and Fonderie du Poitou Fonte. As a result of the rulings by the courts of Administration, GFG is now in a position to commence the implementation of a comprehensive recovery plan for the plants including, a refreshed orderbook, introduction of the LMOS (Liberty Manufacturing Operating System), investments in equipment and improvements in maintenance. Chief Executive of Liberty Industries Group Dr Douglas Dawson said: “This is a great day for both companies and for our group. Moreover, it’s a great result for the workers who I am delighted to be welcoming to the GFG family and growing...
Increasing demand towards diverse, innovative product grades for electrical and automotive applications are found consistently stimulating the aluminium wire market size across the globe. Composed of aluminium, these wires exhibit corrosion protection properties and find a wide array of usage in the products including transformers, building wires, heat sinks in industrial segment, and electrical appliances. Global primary aluminium production was over 5 million tonnes in 2017, while the sales were over 95 million units. By 2024, aluminium wire market revenue is slated to exceed US$ 65 billion. In this background of increasing aluminium market size globally over the past few years, India neither shied away from marking a stupendous growth in aluminium wire import in 2018. According to our...
The Middle East country Oman with a promising downstream aluminium manufacturing base is projected to extend a growth in aluminium bar rods and profiles export this year. According to our third-party data, Oman has been seeing a rise in aluminium bar rods and profiles export since 2016 and this year is expected not to show any exception. In 2016 the estimated export amount was at 26,004 per tonnes, which in the next year had grown to 30,342 tonnes, up 17 per cent. The country further extended its amount of aluminium bar rods and profiles export in 2018, totalling at 36,902, 22 per cent higher than the year ago. The global export-import data forecasts that this year the export volume is likely to grow 12.19 per cent year-on-year to peg at 41,403 tonnes. In consequence of the rise in Oman’s...
Montenegro-based aluminium company Uniprom has reportedly started the construction of an aluminium billets production unit worth 15 million euro ($16.7 million) at aluminium smelter KAP’s factory in Podgorica. The news came after the economy ministry announced this on Wednesday, April 24. The ministry said Uniprom is expecting to create 80 new jobs once the construction work of its 70,000 tpy billets production unit is complete and starts operating by December 2019. Besides, Uniprom’s owner Veselin Pejovic said that the company is planning to open a production unit of silumin alloys worth 11 million euro within a few months, with a capacity of 30,000 tonnes per year. Economy minister Dragica Sekulic said in a statement, "We expect these large investments to stimulate the creation of a...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, stocks of 6063 aluminium billet have extended their decline today, on April 25, across five major consumption areas in China. Higher demand for aluminium extrusion still remains a major factor behind these depleted inventories. As of April 25, inventories have fallen some 6,400 tonnes from last Thursday, April 18, to come in at 92,200 tonnes, SMM data shows. This is the seventh consecutive week that aluminium billet inventories have shrunk. In major cities like Foshan, Guangdong, the inventories have recorded a drop by 9,300 tonnes to stand at 55,300 tonnes; while in Wuxi, Jiangsu, the inventories have shown restraint at 18,500 tonnes. In Changzhou, Jiangsu and Huzhou, Zhejiang, on the other hand, the inventories have risen week-on-week by 300 tonnes...
Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) announced that Elval has joined ASI as a Production & Transformation member. Elval is the aluminium rolling division of ElvalHalcor S.A. and the only Greek producer of flat rolled aluminium products. Lampros Varouchas, Managing Director, ELVAL said: “We are very excited to join ASI and further promote the principles of sustainability that drive us in all of our activities. We think of our membership as an excellent opportunity to align our efforts with the other members of ASI towards responsible production, environmental protection and material stewardship, throughout the aluminium value chain.” Elval’s products are used in the packaging, construction, shipbuilding, automotive, energy, industrial and HVAC industries. The company exports...
Aluminum Association released a new white paper, Targeted Trade Enforcement in Action: Aluminum Foil AD/CVD One-Year Later yesterday. The paper highlights the progress made after the Commerce Department’s final application of antidumping (AD) and countervailing duty (CVD) orders on imports of certain aluminium foil from China on April 19, 2018. The report shows the import of Chinese aluminium foil registered about two-thirds drop after the duties and the US saw an investment of US$169 million in the segment. “One year after taking strong action to enforce our nation’s trade laws, we are seeing clear and significant progress in the U.S. aluminium foil market,” said Heidi Brock, president & CEO of the Aluminum Association. The AD and CVD orders ranged from 55 to 176 per cent, reflecting the...
A fire broke out at Norsk Hydro’s Gloucester extrusion facility in the UK on Sunday. This has caused damages to parts of the production facilities, while offices were affected by smoke. The plant had halted production over Easter and was not operating when the fire started. The maintenance person on duty was notified by a fire alarm and the local fire brigade was alerted. The fire brigade put out the fire within an hour after arriving at the plant, the company said in a statement. Gloucester plant is likely to restart as soon as possible. During this period, the company will serve its customers with backup solutions from sister plants. “The police are now investigating the fire. Hydro will routinely also conduct its own investigation to find the root cause.”
India’s total aluminium export to the USA increased 21 per cent year-on-year to stand at 23,700 tonnes in January 2019. Aluminium export was 19,600 tonnes in January 2018. The country’s total aluminium imports including scrap from the USA soared 113 per cent year-on-year to stand at 18,200 tonnes, as updated by US Census Bureau. Aluminium semi-finished products export to the USA stood at 5,050 tonnes in January 2019, up 54 per cent from 3,290 tonnes in January 2018, and increased 5.4 per cent month-on-month from 4,790 tonnes in December 2018. Import of aluminium semi-finished products from the USA jumped 109.3 per cent from a year ago to stand at 180 tonnes in January 2019, while imports declined 46 per cent month-on-month. India’s aluminium scraps import from the USA increased from 8,450...
Kaiser Aluminum Corporation, a leading producer of semi-fabricated specialty aluminium products, announced first quarter 2019 results. The Company reported net sales of $395 million in Q1 2019, up approximately 2% year-on-year. Adjusted consolidated EBITDA for the quarter stood at $56 million, up $8 million YoY. Jack A. Hockema, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said: “Continuing the positive trend from the second half 2018, we reported strong first quarter 2019 results. Improving aerospace demand and non-contract value added pricing drove strong results in the quarter, partially offset by approximately $5 million of cost inefficiencies at our Trentwood facility, a combination of unplanned equipment downtime in the finishing operations and purchased rolling ingot costs necessitated by...
According to Shanghai Metals Market, the processing fees for aluminium billets are likely to remain strong in the medium terms, as the orders for aluminium extrusions have improved in a peak during March-May season. In March, the operating rates across major Chinese aluminium extrusion producers averaged at 60.4 per cent and are likely to grow further to 62 per cent in April and change a little in May, found an SMM survey. This rising trend of aluminium extrusions operating rates has led to a steady supply of aluminium billets. Besides, the beginning of new capacity bolstered the supplies further, despite lower output from Xinjiang and Shandong. East Hope increased the price of molten aluminium at the end of last year and that frustrated aluminium billet manufacturers in Xinjiang with...
According to the latest report from Aluminum Association net shipments of Aluminum Sheet and Plate by U.S. and Canadian producers stood at an estimated 346,998 tonnes during March 2019, slightly off from March 2018. On a month on month comparison, shipments increased 10 per cent over the revised February 2019 total of 315,428 tonnes. YTD shipments through March 2019 stood at 1 million tonne, up 1.6 per cent over the same period of 2018. Note that import data continues to lag due to the recent partial government shutdown. Shipments of Can Stock stood at 144,514 tonnes during March 2019, off 8 per cent from the March 2018 total of 157,397 tonnes, while shipments of Non-heat Treatable Sheet (excluding Can Stock) were down 1.9 per cent to 116,845 million pounds and shipments of All Other...
Alicon Castalloy Ltd (Alicon), one of India’s largest integrated manufacturers of aluminium castings, published financial results for the quarter and year ended March 31, 2019. The company reported total income of INR1,192.05 crore in FY19, an increase of 17 per cent from INR1,022.96 crore in FY18. Profit after Tax increased 37 per cent year-on-year to INR52.95 crore in FY19. PAT was at INR38.68 crore in FY18. EBITDA rose by 27 per cent YoY to INR 149.61 crore in FY19 compared to INR 117.64 crore in FY18. In Q4 FY19, total income stood at INR317.41, up 7 per cent YoY. Profit after Tax increased 24 per cent YoY to INR15.89 crore. EBITDA rose by 13 per cent YoY to INR41.10 crore compared to INR 36.51 crore. Rajeev Sikand, Group CEO - Alicon Castalloy, said: “This robust performance has been...
Tenova, a company in the Techint Group specialising in solutions for the metals and mining industries, has reportedly bagged a new contract from Henan Tongren Aluminium Co. Ltd. for continuous annealing and chemical pre-treatment line for processing aluminium strip coils. Henan Tongren Aluminium Co. Ltd. is a Chinese manufacturer specialising in the production of aluminium products. The company’s new line is dedicated to processing 2XXX, 5XXX, 6XXX, and 7XXX aluminium alloys, which will then be supplied to Tongren’s production plant in Sanmenxia, Henan Province. The width of the strips in the new line range from 1.000 mm to 2.650mm and thickness from 0.3 mm to 4.5 mm. Automotive and aerospace are the two main sectors that will use these alloys. The total production for the line is...
