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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Vedanta owned Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco) has resumed sheet rolling operations at its Korba facility in Chhattisgarh, India. This marks the metal major's comeback in the rolling aluminium products business that was held up about a year ago. Last year, August, Balco's sheet rolling shop (SRS) in Korba was shut down as it was running in huge loss owing to the meltdown in global aluminium industry. The problem faced by the aluminium major got aggravated due to declining of the demand for aluminium it produced as dumping from China had started flooding the Indian market. Though the problem of unregulated Chinese exports snatching the market share from Indian aluminium producers is still there, Balco has managed to withstand the pressure and come around after doing required...
South Africa's leading aluminium manufacturer Hulamin announced its unaudited interim results for the half-year period ended 30 June 2016. Operating profit of the company increased 86 per cent year-on-year while revenue soared 25 per cent y-o-y to reach R4.9 billion due to soft market conditions. Hulamin's total sales volume grew 19 per cent y-o-y during the period under review; the rolled products segment sales alone was up by 21 per cent. The aluminium fabricators reported improved sales mitigation which resulted in consistent manufacturing output during H1. Richard Jacob, CEO, commented: "Improved manufacturing performance in Hulamin Rolled Products underpins this pleasing set of results. This, together with a weaker Rand on average against the US Dollar during the six months under...
Aluminium fabricator Dudley's Aluminium has been roped in to for work on BBC Cymru Wales' new £120 million headquarters building in Cardiff. The property has been forecast to add more than £1 billion into the Welsh economy over a ten-year period. The project is being developed by Rightacres Property as a part of the new Central Square development and is expected to be handed over to the BBC in April 2018. According to the sources close to the downstream aluminium company, Dudley's has also secured a contract with ISG, worth more than £3 million. The contract entails the company with the job to create and install the building's aluminium façade, in addition to providing various windows and doors for the project. "The Central Square project is a hugely exciting one for us due to our local...
Ramsden Industries is launching a $6.1- million expansion of its aluminium castings plant on Oakland Avenue with help from a private grant. The70 year’s old company has grown steadily in London while keeping a low profile. Ramsden Industries is primarily investing in new technology to increase process automation and connect two adjacent facilities, which they believe would allow them to connect better with new clients. “Our customers are demanding and the industry is changing. In North America it will take a lot more value-added technology to be competitive,” said General Manager Andrew Ramsden, whose grandfather, Jack Ramsden, founded the company in 1946. During a meet at the Ramsden Industries plant, Deb Matthews, London North Centre Liberal MPP announced that the company would be...
Aluminium processing capacity in Henan, one of China’s major aluminium processing regions, will be hit by tough environmental protections, SMM learned. Aluminium processors in the province are required to upgrade coal-fired facilities into gas-fired ones out of environmental concerns. This move will affect local aluminium processing capacity by over 500,000-tpy, SMM estimates.
Aluminium semis exports from China experienced a marked decline in June 2016, showed data released by the General Administration of Customs, China, on July 21. Total shipment of aluminium semis was down 15.7 per cent year-on-year at 32,319 million tonnes (mt) in June, whereas it stood at 184,385mt from January till June 2016, down 20 per cent from the corresponding period previous year. Chinese export of aluminium bar, rod, and profile declined 16 per cent y-o-y to reach at 4,133 mt in June. Exports of aluminium plate, sheet, and strip, aluminium tube (including accessories), and aluminium structures and components too declined y-o-y to stand at 20,770mt, 797mt, and 296mt respectively. China shipped a total volume of 36,908mt of aluminium alloy down 7 per cent y-o-y in June 2016. The...
China's state-owned company CITIC Group is planning to start producing aluminium car wheels in Bulgaria, the Bulgarian government said in a release on Friday. A plan was presented to this effect by CITIC in the Danube town of Ruse last week. The conglomerate detailed its plan to construct an aluminium car wheel manufacturing plant in the region, which would create around 300 new jobs. Bulgaria being European Union's poorest country badly needs significant boost in foreign direct investment, because only that can generate sufficient employment opportunities in the country. Inflow of FDI in the country faced a significant setback a year after the global financial crisis in 2008-09 put an end to a construction and real estate boom. It declined to about 1 billion euros-1.6 billion euros ($1.1...
According to the preliminary estimates by Aluminium Association for the month of May 2016, aluminium demand in the United States and Canada which includes shipments by domestic producers plus imports totalled 11,008 million pounds through the first five months of 2016. The estimate records a 1.7 per cent rise over the same period last year. Demand for semi-fabricated mill products was slightly down at 7,695 million pounds. Apparent consumption that includes demand minus exports in domestic markets was an estimated 9,679 million pounds, a slight rise year-to-date. Exports of aluminium ingot and mill products from the U.S. and Canada (excluding cross-border trade) was 1,329 million pounds through May 2016, up 14.6 per cent over the same period last year. The worrying component here is that...
A grant from the National Science Foundation will enable researchers at the University of Pittsburgh to utilize a one-of-a-kind transmission electron microscope developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to examine in real time how microstructures form in metals and alloys as they solidify after laser beam melting. The researchers will study rapid solidification processes in aluminium alloys that are associated with laser or electron beam processing technologies used in welding, joining and additive manufacturing. The proposal, "In-situ transmission electron microscopy of microstructure formation during laser irradiation induced irreversible transformations in metals and alloys" was awarded a three-year, $503,435 grant from the NSF Division of Materials Research. Principal...
Novelis, the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, today announced a number of senior executive moves to further meet the needs of its customers and to continue to deliver high-quality, innovative products to the marketplace. Emilio Braghi has been named Senior Vice President, Novelis Inc. and President, Novelis Europe; Tom Boney has been named Vice President, Operations, North America; and, Ganesh Panneer has been named Vice President and General Manager, Automotive, North America. "These three individuals have proven track records of both commercial and operational success and possess the unique global experiences and passion to lead our company forward," said Steve Fisher, Novelis President and Chief Executive Officer. "Each of them has worked across multiple geographies and...
Reliance Steel & Aluminum Co., the largest metals service centre corporation in North America, has reported its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2016. Sales were $2.20 billion, down 9.1 per cent from $2.42 billion in the second quarter of 2015 and up 1.9 per cent from $2.16 billion in the first quarter of 2016. Net income attributable to Reliance was $100.9 million, up 11.9 per cent from $90.2 million in the second quarter of 2015 and up 9.4 per cent from $92.2 million in the first quarter of 2016. Cash flow from operations was $49.8 million in the second quarter of 2016 and net debt-to-total capital was 33.4 per cent at June 30, 2016. "We had an outstanding second quarter with strong financial performance characterized by gross profit margin expansion, as well as...
CME Group, the world's leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace, today announced that the first Aluminium A380 Alloy (S&P Global Platts) futures contracts were traded on Tuesday, July 19, 2016. A total of 50 futures contracts were traded across the August through December 2016 contract months. "We're pleased to see early support for our new Aluminium A380 Alloy (S&P Global Platts) futures contract," said Young-Jin Chang, CME Group Executive Director, Global Head of Metals Products. "Working with the industry we believe we've introduced risk management tools that better reflect the way commercial customers price their physical contracts based on the Platts assessment of A380 alloy. This new contract provides our customers with an effective and transparent solution for hedging...
Attuned to get closer to its local customers and service providers, Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), a world’s leading aluminium smelter, had an official delegation visiting TAHA International Corporation, Bahrain Recycling Plant (BRP) and Crown Industries on Sunday, July 17, 2016. The delegation comprised of Alba’s Chief Financial Officer, Ali Al Baqali, along with Senior Manager Casthouse, A. Rasool Ahmed, Manager Procurement & Warehousing, Mustafa A. Rahman, and Trainee Casthouse’s Superintendent – Metal Management, Mahmood Hassan. These visits aimed to enhance customer satisfaction, strengthen business ties as well as exchange knowledge in various fields while provide Alba with cost-effective and environment-friendly recycling solutions for various materials ranging from aluminium...
Aleris has enetred into a new multi-year contract with Airbus to supply a range of aluminium products such as plate and sheet for use in the making of all Airbus aircrafts. The contract, to be effective from 2017 onward, also includes the supply of high-end wing skin material by Aleris. Aleris has had a a long-standing partnership with Airbus. This agreement further strengthens that relationship and demonstrates how successfully Aleris continues to meet the expectations as a strategic technology-cum-material supplier to the flourishing aerospace industry. "This vote of confidence from Airbus validates our strategy to expand our global rolled products footprint and invest in technology as we are now able to extend our range of aerospace products and better serve Airbus," says Sean Stack,...
The Aluminum Association’s Index of Net New Orders of aluminium Mill Products for June increased 7.4 per cent from the previous month. Orders for flat roll products were up 9.1 per cent, while orders for extruded products increased three-tenths of one per cent and orders for redraw rod were up 13.3 per cent. Compared to June 2015, orders were up 3.5 per cent. On average, orders recorded by domestic producers through the first half of 2016 were up 1.2 per cent over last year. Shipments of can stock by domestic producers totaled 365.7 million pounds during June 2016, a rise of 1.3 per cent over the June 2015 total of 361.0 million pounds. Compared to the previous month, shipments increased 4.5 per cent over the May 2016 total of 350.0 million pounds. Year-to-date shipments through June 2016...
Abdel Maksoud Ibrahim, head of investor affairs at InterCairo Aluminum Industry, said that his company plans to float 60m shares, representing 30 per cent of its shares, in the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) in December after it obtains the EGX’s approval to begin the IPO procedures. Ibrahim added that his company obtained earlier the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority’s (EFSA) non-objection of the fair value of quoted shares worth EGP 7.13. The company awaits the approval of the EGX’s administration after the company submitted all the required documents nearly three months ago. The EGX’s Listing Committee approved in March 2015 the listing of the company with a capital of EGP 200m, at a nominal price of EGP 1 per share. He pointed out that this move aims to provide funding for the...
AMAG, a leading Austrian premium supplier of high-quality aluminium cast and flat rolled products for highly varied industries such as the aircraft, automotive, construction and packaging industries, announced the signing of a multiyear supply contract with Airbus in Toulouse, where AMAG will supply aluminium plate, sheet and coil for all Airbus aircraft programs. The contract includes a significant increase of business volume commencing January 2017. The contract is the largest ever signed between AMAG and Airbus. “AMAG and Airbus have maintained a successful partnership since the year 2005. This contract will significantly expand our business with Airbus and strengthen our position as a valued supplier to the aircraft industry. We are proud to serve Airbus with high quality rolled...
Argentina decided to begin an antidumping probe into Aluminium alloy wheels imported from China, said the Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau of China's Ministry of Commerce. The antidumping case comprise of products such as motor vehicles' Aluminium alloy wheels, excluding tires, with a hub diameter of not less than 355.6 mm (14 inches) and not greater than 457.2 mm (18 inches), as per the report. India had imposed antidumping duties of $1.37/kg on seven Chinese Aluminium alloy wheel producers, and $2.15/kg on other Aluminium alloy producers in January last year after completing two years of antidumping investigations. China Aluminium alloy wheel exports during the first five months of this year was of 322,900 mt, worth $1.506 billion and was down 0.2 per cent and 7.4 per cent year on...
