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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According to an Aluminum Association report, estimated shipments of Aluminum Foil by U.S. and Canadian producers totaled 87.6 million pounds during March 2016, a rise of 1.7 per cent over the March 2015 total of 86.1 million pounds. Compared to the previous month, shipments increased 10.4 per cent over the February 2016 total of 79.3 million pounds. Year to-date shipments through March 2016 totaled 240.6 million pounds, up 3.9 per cent over the 2015 year-to-date total of 231.5 million pounds. Estimated net shipments of Aluminum Sheet and Plate by U.S. and Canadian producers totaled 735.2 million pounds during March 2016, a rise of 1.8 percent over the March 2015 total of 722.2 million pounds. Compared to the previous month, shipments increased 7.8 percent over the February 2016 total of...
According to a recently published market research report, the global automotive lightweight material market (includes components made from downstream aluminium and high-grade aluminium alloy) was estimated at $77.1 billion in 2015, and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14.0 per cent during 2016 - 2022. The factors driving the growth of the global market include growing enforcement by government for environmental regulations, increasing number of passenger vehicles and advancement in technology, along with change in material used for manufacturing. Various manufacturers are forced to operate and adopt the new policy and regulations, as per different legislations worldwide to reduce CO2 emission. OEMs across the globe are pushing their strategies towards more advanced technique and...
Staff at world class foundry MRT Castings is celebrating after winning a Queen’s Award For International Trade on Her Majesty’s 90thbirthday. Family-owned and managed MRT joined the prestigious list of UK achievers after growing export turnover by 330 per cent over the last three years. Overseas trade now accounts for 56 per cent of business at the aluminium die caster which last year recorded turnover of £7.2 million. The Hampshire company casts and machines complex engineering components for original equipment manufacturers all over the world. Its main markets are the medical sector, aerospace and defence. Many of the components manufactured by MRT are life-critical or safety-critical, requiring the highest levels of engineering expertise. Managing Director Phil Rawnson said: “We are...
Lee Swartling, Vice President, Sales & Marketing at Wagstaff retired from Wagstaff April 1. He is being succeded by Steve Anderson, formerly Director of Engineering at Wagstaff, Inc. Lee joined Wagstaff in May of 1999 as an Area Manager responsible for sales in Japan, Western North America, Russia and the Ukraine. In 2011 Lee was named Vice President, Sales & Marketing the position he held until his retirement. Lee graduated from the Colorado School of Mines and worked for Kaiser Aluminum for 26 years in various supervisory and managerial roles during his domestic and international assignments. Steve Anderson holds degrees in Electrical Engineering and Business Management from Washington State University. Steve joined Wagstaff in March of 1995 as an Electrical Engineer for the R&D...
Constellium N.V. announced yesterday the Annual Report 2015. The Group's financial highlights are as follows: Total shipments in 2015 were 1,478k metric tons, a 39 per cent increase compared to 1,062k metric tons in 2014, driven mainly by the integration of Wise and reflecting good traction from automotive rolled products, automotive extruded products and aerospace rolled products. Revenues for 2015 were €5,153 million, which represents an increase of 41 per cent, or €1,487 million, from 2014 resulting primarily from the integration of the Muscle Shoals facility. Adjusted EBITDA for 2015 was €343 million, an increase of €68 million, or 25 per cent, from the 2014 Adjusted EBITDA, driven by the acquisition of Wise, record performance in the Automotive Structures and Industry (AS&I) segment,...
The Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone (RBIDZ) in South Africa wants to establish an aluminium metals hub comprising downstream product manufacturers in the KwaZulu-Natal city to tap into the growing use of aluminium instead of steel by the automotive sector. Aluminum has become the second most used material in the auto industry – next to steel – since it weighs less than half of steel or cast iron in the manufacturing process, Zululand Observer reported. According to the Aluminium Association, an American organisation, the use of the metal in commercial vehicles continues to accelerate because it offers the “fastest, safest, most environmentally friendly and cost-effective way to increase performance, boost fuel economy and reduce emissions while maintaining or improving safety and...
Vedanta-controlled Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (Balco) would resume production in its sheet rolling shop (SRS) In a move that would facilitate the company's return to the aluminium rolled product business. Production in the shop was suspended in September last year following crises in the backdrop of crash in global aluminium prices. The shop was running under heavy loss and the management decided to suspend production, that put Balco’s aluminium rolled products business under the scanner. The market was abuzz with reports that Balco had initiated the process of shutting down the business of aluminium rolled products. The rolling mill, with an annual production capacity of 72,000 tonnes, was commissioned in 1981-82. The products rolled from the shop included hot-rolled coils,...
According to the latest industry reports, China has agreed to end export subsidies it provided to industries including aluminium products, titanium and specialty steel after the U.S. complained to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in February 2015. This is indeed a big news for the companies buying aluminium product or semi-finished goods from China and for aluminium product producers who have been facing tough competition from Chinese exporters. However, industry experts opine that rebates still remain while steps have been taken to do away with the subsidies. What they observe is that, the continued 15 per cent value-added-tax refund producers enjoy on exports of aluminium semi-finished products in the aluminium market outside China happens to be of much more concern. This is a subsidy...
SAF (Southern Aluminium Finishing Co.) recently installed a Cut-To-Length (CTL) aluminium coil processing line in their SAF-West, Redding, CA plant. The heart of the line is a Herr-Voss 6 hi corrective leveler to enhance processing of non-ferrous coil for surface critical sheet with the flatness important for architectural building applications. SAF's new Cut-To-Length processing line can handle 0.024” - 0.125” thick aluminium coils up to 60” wide, ID 18” - 22” and 100 feet-per-minute. Newly renovated electronic controls for both the leveler and the flying shear enable more precise and reliable production. An in-line slitting head and flying shear minimize processing time. The leveler’s rollers give SAF the capability to meet surface critical requirements for painted and anodized...
The British aluminium pressure diecasting manufacturer JVM Castings has invested more than £1m into its Tamworth site in a move that has will create 14 jobs. The business has installed additional machinery and invested in sustainable processes at its facility on the Lichfield Road Industrial Estate. The injection is part of its plans to double the size of its site by 2020. JVM has taken on ten additional staff and two apprentices across its engineering, management and machining departments. A further two new members will be joining in the coming months. Operations director Ken Parker said: "Our growth plans have been driven by market demands, both through new and existing business, as well as a stronger focus on meeting our company’s green agenda. "Whilst the majority of our work is in...
It is worried that China will cancel export rebate on aluminium semis as well after its recent decision to remove export rebate on seven industries. SMM deems such concerns as overdone and sees little possibility for China to do so for the foreseeable future, citing three reasons. Currently, China offers 13 per cent rebate on exports of aluminium extrusion , plate/sheet, strip and pipe/tube, as well as 15 per cent rebate on aluminium foil exports. Chinese aluminium semis exporters need to pay 17 per cent VAT. That is to say, they are still subject to 2 per cent-4 per cent tax even after the rebate. SMM learns that export profit margins at most Chinese aluminium processors are less than 10 per cent after counting in export rebate. Should the rebate be abolished, Chinese exporters will...
The Aluminum Extruders Council (AEC) announced that it has launched a program to develop a set of industry-sanctioned Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) that will document the environmental performance of aluminium extrusions produced in the U.S. and Canada. An EPD is an independently verified document that communicates information about the lifecycle environmental impact of the subject product(s). Created and verified in accordance with International Standard ISO 14025, EPD’s include information on the impact of raw material acquisition, energy use, emissions, waste generation, etc. In North America, EPDs are increasingly being requested, both to meet the requirements of the upcoming v4 of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Program and to meet...
Dawes Highway Safety Ltd recently turned to Sapa Profiles UK for support with the design, extrusion and fabrication of profiles for its DawesGuard DropDown Technology safety system. Sapa Profiles provided initial design consultation and aided Dawes with fabrication processes including machining and anodising, as well as quality control for the extrusions. James Dawes, founder and managing director, Dawes, said: “I was impressed by the service we received from Sapa from the start." “Our products were delivered ahead of schedule and have passed quality control with flying colours. As a company we are satisfied that our tooling investment is in safe hands and we have gained an invaluable ‘production partner’ for our component supply chain.” DawesGuard DropDown Technology is a fully...
Registered visitors to AluSolutions 2016 will be given the opportunity to visit the new Taweelah Aluminium Extrusion Company LLC (TALEX). TALEX is the first aluminium downstream project to be established in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD). The plant was set up to produce extruded aluminium and aluminium extrusion based-products for regional and international markets. The total expected investment is approximately US$ 240 million, with an estimated capacity of 50,000 Tonnes Per Annum of aluminium profiles and 45,000 Tonnes Per Annum of aluminium billets. The visit is being run by TALEX and will involve a networking lunch and tour of the facilities.
Sapa has opened a corrosion test center in Florida to service customers using aluminium tubing in automotive and industrial heat transfer applications, and in residential air conditioning systems. Sapa has installed new automated corrosion cabinets in the technology center at its aluminium precision tubing plant in Rockledge to enable customers to carry out Sea Water Acetic Acid Testing (SWAAT, or ASTM G85-A3) and other common standardized tests. SWAAT has long been used by the automotive market as a helpful tool for product validation comparisons of design changes. The heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC&R) industry has now followed suit and also adopted SWAAT for aluminium heat exchangers. Further, Sapa’s experts are leading new research within the American...
China's production of ten nonferrous metals including aluminium in the first two months of 2016 fell 4.3 per cent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday, in a delayed data release. Total output stood at 7.612 million tonnes. The production reversed a 5.8 per cent rise for the full year of 2015, the data showed. Other non-ferrous metals which experienced a production drop during the period under review are copper, zinc, lead, nickel, tin, antimony, titanium, magnesium and mercury. The data did not include the breakdown of each metal Production of semi-finished aluminium products, however, such as profiles and plates was 8.04 million tonnes in the first two months, up 12.7 per cent from a year earlier.
Lightweight metals major Alcoa announced yesterday first quarter 2016 results reflecting solid performance. During the period under review, downstream and value-added business segments of Alcoa, namely, Global Rolled Products (GRP), Engineered Products and Solutions (EPS) and Transportation and Construction Solutions (TCS) reported combined revenue of $3.3 billion. These three business divisions, which would be merged to form the innovation and technology-driven Arconic company after Alcoa's separation, reported after-tax operating income (ATOI) of $269 million, adjusted EBITDA of $537 million and adjusted EBITDA margin of 16.4 per cent. ATOI and adjusted EBITDA increased 8 and 7 per cent, respectively, year-over-year. The combined segments also generated $179 million in productivity as...
In the face of increasingly volatile global commodity markets, Aluminium China 2016 will be focusing on opening up new business opportunities in the rapidly growing South East Asia markets. As one of the largest international aluminium industry events of the year, Aluminium China, from 12 -14 July at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre, will bring together the complete aluminium value chain, from raw materials to primary aluminium and semi-finished and finished products. Visitors from over 60 countries will also be able to meet end-user application providers, equipment, technology and accessories suppliers, auxiliary materials manufacturers and consultancy, support services and import-export businesses. Moving beyond the event’s trademark branding and networking, Aluminium China is...
