Bahrain’s aluminium wire exports continued to gain momentum in the second quarter of 2026, with shipments rising significantly compared with the corresponding periods of 2025 and 2024. The country exported 80,895 tonnes of aluminium wire in Q2 2026, taking its total shipments during the first half of the year to 143,518 tonnes. The export data covers aluminium wire under HS code 7605, excluding stranded wire, cables, plaited bands and similar products, electrically insulated wires and strings for musical instruments. Export volume registers strong Y-o-Y growth Comparing the quarterly figures, Bahrain’s aluminium wire export volume increased by 23.76 per cent Y-o-Y in Q2 2026, against 65,366 tonnes shipped during Q2 2025. The latest quarterly volume also marked a considerable rise from Q2...
India-based KEC International Limited is pushing ahead with Phase II of its aluminium conductor capacity expansion, even as a difficult second quarter dragged consolidated profit down. The Q2 FY27 investor presentation, dated November 2, lists the expansion as underway in its Cables & Conductors business, one of the few segments that grew in the quarter. The update comes over a year after KEC’s commissioning of the first phase of the plant in Vadodara in February 2025, marking an investment of about INR 600 million (USD 6.33 million). The company has not disclosed the capacity to be added, the investment or a completion date. Explore AL Circle’s report ALuminium Wires & Cables - Insights & Forecast to 2030 for insights into aluminium applications, industry developments and opportunities...
Grow with
AL Circle
Rexam, a leading global can maker, last week hosted a craft beer masterclass for craft brewers at its newly expanded Graphics & Design Centre at European HQ, Luton. Guests were shown the full can manufacturing process, from concept of the design to the delivery of cans. Eleven customers attended in total and all expressed how informative and insightful they found the session – the first of its kind. Attendees gained a higher understanding of the functionality of the can as a packaging format and the 360o design potential – key for small brands with limited marketing spend. Experts at the Graphics & Design Centre work with customers to introduce them to different can sizes and finishes, and to translate their brief into a design that will stand out on the shelf. In the last year Rexam...
China Zhongwang Holdings Limited, together with its subsidiaries, announced its unaudited results for the nine months ended 30 September 2015. During the review period, the Group’s revenue rose 3.0% year-on-year to RMB12.68 billion. As sales of high-end industrial aluminium products increased, together with reduced raw material costs due to a decline in the price of aluminium, the Group’s gross profit margin increased by 6.2 percentage points to 34.8%. Profit attributable to equity shareholders surged by 29.1% year on year to approximately RMB2.52 billion. Mr. Lu Changqing, Executive Director and Vice President of China Zhongwang, said, “Seizing opportunities arising from China’s industry upgrade and the light-weight development trend of the transportation sector, the Group continued to...
The Aluminium Federation, UK, has called for an urgent meeting with Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, Sajid Javid. The Federation stresses that the UK’s aluminium sector needs similar support to that being proposed for the country’s steel industry. “The UK aluminium sector has already suffered major plant closures such as those currently threatened in the steel industry, and our energy-intensive industry needs government backing just as much as steel and other metals,” said Aluminium Federation chief executive Will Savage. “Specifically, we want to see swift action on energy taxes, business rates, public sector procurement, support for R&D, resourcing for BIS and a firm stance to be taken regarding China’s application for ‘Market Economy Status’ at the EU. The...
A high-profile jury of journalists from internationally renowned specialist packaging media chose the winners of the World Aluminium Aerosol Can Award again this year. Twelve editors from four continents voted and chose winners in two categories: cans that are already on the market and prototypes. The winner among the aluminium cans that are already on the market was the Fa Mystic Moments can from Henkel. The can producer Ball Corporation and Henkel Beauty Care continue to pioneer sustainable aluminium aerosol packaging. With the release of the Fa ReAl can, the producer has succeeded in producing an ultra-lightweight (20 grams) aluminium aerosol can that has 25% recycled aluminium content. This metal alloy is stronger and lighter without affecting the package integrity. For a 150- and...
A recently conducted research reveals the global industrial casting market is slated for growth at 7.88% CAGR over 2015-2019 period. Increased simulation-based castings and development of trends involving conducive government regulations have been identified as the major growth drivers in the report. Manufacturing sector in many developed economies is being brought under scanner as environmental sustainability is gaining significance all across the world. The US EPA has imposed a number of restrictions on power plants to reduce emission levels, and most importantly, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The governments have made it compulsory for the automobile industry players to manufacture automobiles which are adequately high on fuel efficiency. The mandates have fuelled R&D activities...
Novelis, the global leader in aluminum rolled products and recycling, announced today that it has been awarded the Grand Prize in the Green Management Excellence category of the 2015 Global Standard Management Awards, held under the co-sponsorship of the Korea Management Association (KMA) and the Korea Management Association Registration (KMAR). Now in its fourteenth year, the Global Standard Management Awards have emerged as the most prestigious awards in the Korean business community. The Global Standard Management Awards recognize companies and organizations for their contribution to promoting sustainable development and enhancing global competitiveness in ten categories, including sustainable management, green management and energy management. The KMAR surveyed 709 companies with more...
To give a fillip to downstream industries, the state government of Odisha in India plans to come out with a dedicated policy for downstream industries, which includes aluminium extrusion and allied businesses. "The draft of the policy would be ready before the end of this fiscal. The policy for downstream industries would focus on assured raw material linkage for such units. The policy would boost downstream units around the mother plants and also generate substantial employment", said industries minister Debi Prasad Mishra. In its recently notified SEZ (Special Economic Zone) policy, the state government has stressed that investors in metal sectors like steel, aluminium and ferro alloys with investments exceeding Rs 1,000 crore need to establish downstream parks if they want to put up...
As manufacturers, particularly in the automobile industry, continue to work toward incorporating lighter metals like aluminium with heavier steel, the ongoing problem has been how to successfully weld them together. The problem is that the high heat created in the welding process actually weakens these lighter metals, creating a less than optimum weld. After 10 years of research, engineers at The Ohio State University have developed a new welding technique that may prove to solve this problem while also using 80 percent less energy and creating bonds that are 50 percent stronger. "With our method, materials are shaped and bonded together at the same time, and they actually get stronger," says Glenn Daehn, professor of materials science and engineering at Ohio State, who helped develop the...
China’s aluminium semis exports lost steam in September, a trend to continue as the year goes on, SMM predicts. Falling aluminium premiums and prices overseas, as well as anti-dumping will inhibit outflows of Chinese aluminium semis. Meanwhile, falling profitability has dampened Chinese companies’ willingness to accept export orders, SMM has learned. Outbound shipments were unchanged from August at 300,000 tonnes in September, but were down 11.76% from a year ago, customs data showed.
SAG Tech Days held at each of the two US truck manufacturers and current SAG customers Navistar-International respectively Daimler Trucks North America in mid September were a huge success. Thereby less known possibilities from SAG as Rheocasting or aluminum structural components in general were presented as well as the possibility to work with SAG as a product development partner. Fully packed with sample parts and presentation material the first stop was Navistar in Chicago where the managing director of SAG Mecasa, Mr. Luis Alvarez and the head of Sales of SAG Mecasa, Mrs. Alejandra Casas joined. Navistar currently receives air-tanks from the SAG-Mecasa/Proform joint venture. A presentation room was equipped with SAG posters and sample parts. During the day numerous employees from...
Klöckner & Co is building a new service centre at its operating location in Bönen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, through its subsidiary Becker Stahl-Service GmbH. The new facility will process aluminium flat products for the automotive and manufacturing industries in Europe. Capital expenditure in the low to middle double-digit millions of euros is planned for the new business, which will trade as Becker Aluminium Service GmbH. Some 40 jobs will be created at the new Bönen service centre scheduled for completion in 2017. “The launch of Becker Aluminium Service is a further step in systematically implementing our strategy of increasing the percentage of sales generated with higher value-added products and services. At the same time, we are supplementing Becker’s product portfolio with...
Showa Aluminum Can Corporation, a consolidated subsidiary of Showa Denko, completed construction of can end production lines in Vietnam, and went into quantity production of can ends this October. In May 2014, SAC acquired controlling stake of Hanacans Joint Stock Company (Hanacans), an aluminum beverage can manufacturer of Vietnam. Since then, by introducing SAC's advanced manufacturing technology and latest quality management system into Hanacans, SAC has successfully increased Hanacans' sales in Vietnamese market where demand for canned beer continues increasing. In the past, Hanacans did not have the line to produce can ends, and outsourced them. Therefore, Hanacans started to set up new can end production facilities in October 2014. Moreover, in August 2015, Hanacans was successfully...
Sapa continued to improve its financial performance with a third quarter result that was significantly better than its result in the same quarter last year. Underlying EBIT in the third quarter was NOK 404 million, compared with NOK 201 million last year. The increase was driven by positive contributions from improvement programs and restructuring efforts, strong North American demand, and positive currency effects. Through the first nine months of 2015, underlying EBIT for Sapa was approximately 80 percent higher than in the same period last year. The improvement in underlying EBIT this year was influenced by the same factors, partly offset by negative effects from sharply falling metal premiums in North America. Operating revenues rose by 20 percent in the third quarter, compared with...
Aluminium curtain walling from the Technal brand has helped turn a stunning “treehouse” suspended in the woodland canopy in Yorkshire into a multi-award winning conference venue recognized for architectural excellence. Designed by architects The Harris Partnership and built by Conlon Construction, the 2,060-squre foot aerofoil-shaped “treehouse” was commissioned by the Bayford Group at the former ancestral home of aviation pioneer Robert Blackburn, who inspired its aeronautical theme and its name, the Blackburn Wing. Accommodating up to 140 people, the stunning timber, copper and glass events center is the centrepiece of a £6m multi-phase restoration project across the historic, 19th-century Bowcliffe Estate in Yorkshire. It is one of only two structures ever to have been built in an area...
Ford Motor posted third quarter results which narrowly missed expectations but showed the automaker is doing extremely well in the United States. Ford was the number one selling brand in the U.S. and its aluminium F-150 sales hit a nine-year high. The automaker posted third quarter profits of $0.45 a share, excluding one-time items, that was a penny short of forecasts. The shortfall was due to the company paying a 33 percent rate versus 32 percent. On the top line, auto sales came in at $35.8 billion, slightly higher than forecasts and about nine percent above the same period last year. Ford CFO Bob Shanks said over the next 12 months, emerging markets will continue to be a challenge and he believes South America has not hit bottom yet. In China, the automakers market share was unchanged...
Kobe Aluminum Automotive Products announced a $57 million worth investment in its Bowling Green plant, which will add 112 jobs. The116,000-square-foot plus addition will provide KAAP with capacity for substantial aluminium automotive equipment upgrades. The company anticipates growing its business in the coming years, and the expansion is planned in line with those changes. Construction of the project will begin in December 2015 and is expected to be finished by October 2016. KAAP began production in Bowling Green in 2005 and currently employs 368 Kentuckians. The company invested in five previous expansions totaling $236 million.
Lightweight metals leader Alcoa today officially opened its state-of-the-art jet engine parts facility in La Porte, Indiana. The facility doubles Alcoa’s capacity in La Porte and provides new capabilities that broaden its reach in engines for large commercial aircraft. The new plant will meet increasing demand from makers of best-selling jet engines, growing Alcoa’s value-add business in aerospace. “Innovation is at the heart of the La Porte expansion,” said Alcoa Chairman and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld. “We combined some of the world’s best metallurgists, product engineers and manufacturing experts to broaden our capabilities and deliver the highly advanced components our customers need to build jet engines at high volumes.” The approximately $100 million, 320,000-square-foot expansion,...
The Strategy, produced by the UK Metals Forum, aims to revitalise Britain’s metals industry by boosting innovation, encouraging greater cross-sector collaboration, creating 150,000 new jobs and building a sustainable future for the industry. This will drive increased productivity and added value in the sector, which will translate into more corporate and personal tax take for the UK government. Responding to Small Business, Industry and Enterprise Minister Anna Soubry MP at the launch of the Strategy, Aluminium Federation Board member Henry Dickinson reflected that recent developments in the UK steel sector echoed what has happened in recent years with aluminium. “The clear lessons from the past are that once strategic plants like these close, it is highly unlikely that they will ever be...
