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...
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Rexam, a leading global can maker, has partnered with Coca-Cola HBC Italia to create a range of limited edition cans for the Coca-Cola Italia ‘Share a Kiss’ summer campaign. The standard 330ml cans, created specifically for distribution in vending channels, use Rexam’s innovative first-to-market, patent pending Editions™ technology, which allows for up to 24 designs to be printed simultaneously on a single pallet. The personalised cans display 12 different Italian terms of endearment, including ‘Bella’, ‘Stella’ and ‘Numero 1’, designed to encourage the target audience of teenage girls and boys to ‘Share a Kiss’ this summer. Agnese Filippi, Brand Activation Manager Coca-Cola HBC Italia says, “We have a great relationship with Rexam having worked with them on several projects in the past....
ELVAL Hellenic Aluminium Industry S.A. announces to the investment community, that on July 30, 2015, the Boards of Directors of ELVAL S.A. and its wholly owned subsidiary, non-listed company, Symetal Aluminium Foil Industry S.A. decided the commencement of a spin-off procedure concerning the industrial and commercial activities of the aluminium rolling sector of ELVAL S.A. and its absorption by SYMETAL S.A. The spin- off and absorption of the sector will take place according to the provisions of Law. The spin-off of the rolling sector, part of ELVAL's internal restructuring, will facilitate international co-operation agreements and financing, aiming at strengthening its production activities in Greece. Given that the revenue of the sector under spin-off during the F.Y. 2014 represents...
India's beverage packaging industry reported a significant growth in 2014. Backed by rising disposable income among urban Indians and resulting need for increased convenience, consumption of beverages reached a new height previous year. Now, the main focus of the industry lies on sustainable packaging. R&D initiatives are being taken by can makers in collaboration with several research institutes to bring in innovation in green packaging. Beverages as a sector, alone accounted for 21% of the total domestic consumer packaging market in 2014. According to an estimate made by Madras Consulting Group (MSG), it was valued at around INR 125 billion. Cumulative demand for consumer packaging from the beverage sector is expected to edge higher than other user sectors at around 12% till 2017. Major...
The Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing is rare, desirable car. Yet this 1955 example is even more special. Part of the outrageous Pinnacle Portfolio collection, this car is one of only 29 aluminum-bodied Gullwings built. It will cross the block next month in the RM Auctions sale held in conjunction with the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance and the other festivities of Monterey Car Week. In addition to its lighter bodywork, this Gullwing features the "Sonderteile" version of the 3.0-liter inline-six, with a competition camshaft that boosts output by 15 horsepower, to 215. It was originally white, and came with sports suspension Rudge wheels, and matching luggage. RM expects it to sell for between $5.5 million and $6.5 million. The car was ordered new by industrialist Rene Wassermann, who picked...
A meeting of the Board of Directors of Ess Dee Aluminium Ltd will be held on August 14, 2015, to consider and take on record the unaudited financial results of the company for the quarter ended June 30, 2015. The trading window for trading in the securities of the company shall remain closed from August 03, 2015 till 48 hours after the announcement of the outcome of the board meeting. Accordingly all officers and designated employees (including Directors) of the company have been intimated not to enter into any transaction involving the securities of the company during the aforesaid period of closure of Trading Window. Shares of ESS DEE ALUMINIUM LTD. was last trading in BSE at INR 366.3 as compared to the previous close of INR 361.8. The total number of shares traded during the day was...
The ball is in the European Union's court. The $6.8 billion merger between the world's two biggest can and bottle manufacturers looks like it is running afoul of European antitrust concens. Earlier this year, the top can maker, Ball, offered to buy No. 2 manufacturer Rexam in a cash and stock deal that would create a combined company with $15 billion in sales and generate $300 million in annual cost savings. The bid was a 17% premium to Rexam's closing price the day before the offer was announced. Ball counts companies such as Coca-Cola, Unilever, and Molson Coors among its customers, while Rexam also provides Coke with containers as well as Anheuser-Busch InBev. Each has slightly more than 20% of the global packaging market with third place Crown Holdings owning a 19% share. Reuters...
Ford’s revolutionary aluminum-body F-150 pickup truck does well in most crash tests but is significantly more expensive to repair, according to an analysis by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. That means buyers of the truck, the first to use the lighter-weight metal extensively, probably will pay more in out-of-pocket expenses after a crash and might ultimately have higher insurance premiums, the insurance trade group said. The F-150 has been America’s bestselling vehicle for 33 consecutive years. The company has sold about 400,000, or about 4% of the autos sold so far this year. The institute put the truck through a series of crash tests and found the vehicle’s performance varied, depending on the model. The F-150 crew cab, which Ford calls the “SuperCrew,” posted “good”...
After careful evaluation of its business in China, Sapa has decided to exit its Jiangyin plant and concentrate its operations in China to fewer sites to better serve the demanding customers in high value-add segments. Sapa has since the inception of the joint venture undergone extensive restructuring of its global operations to better meet the market needs. After careful evaluation of its business in China, Sapa has decided to exit its Jiangyin plant and concentrate its operations in China to fewer sites to better serve the demanding customers in high value-add segments. Sapa currently operates four production sites in China. During August production will be transferred from the Jiangyin plant outside Shanghai to Sapa’s other Chinese plants. “We have decided to focus operations to the...
Henan Zhongfu Industrial Co. Ltd., the Chinese subsidiary of the international investment and industrial holding Vimetco, one of the largest on the aluminum market, has obtained the Quality Management System Certificate for Production of Components and Provision of Respective Services in the Automotive Industry. Obtainment of this certificate will enable Zhongfu to supply to the domestic and international markets plates made of aluminum alloys for manufacturing of automotive bodies, which will definitely expand the market of certified products. The certification of Zhongfu products was made by National Quality Assurance Co., Ltd. (NQA), UK, in accordance with the Quality Management System in respect of automotive plates TS16949 established by the International Automotive Task Force (IATF)...
Rexam PLC, a leading global beverage can maker, and business partners to some of the world’s most famous and successful consumer brands announced its results for the first half of 2015. Key Highlights: • Beverage can volumes including UAC up 3% (2% organic) • Organic2 underlying operating profit down 9%, primarily due to higher metal premium • Interim dividend unchanged at 5.8p • Ball offer proceeding as planned, timetable unchanged Commenting, Graham Chipchase, Rexam’s chief executive, said: “Results for the half year were in line with our expectations. Trading in the first half was strong in Europe and the Rest of the World, but with some weakness in the Middle East. In the Americas, standard cans continued to decline whilst specialty cans continued to grow. Our operating profit was...
Aluminum foil, imported from Russia to countries in the EU, will be subject to a provisional anti-dumping duty, according to the Official Journal of the European Union. The 34% tax will cover imports of foil rolls, originating in Russia, of a weight exceeding 10kg, with a thickness of the sheets of not less than 0.008mm and not more than 0.018mm. Evidence of dumping The proceeding was initiated following a complaint lodged on August 25, 2014 by AFM Aluminiumfolie Merseburg, Alcomet, Eurofoil Luxembourg, Hydro Aluminium Rolled Products and Impol d.o.o. (‘the complainants’) on behalf of producers representing more than 25% of the total Union production of aluminium foils. The complaint contained prima facie evidence of dumping of the said product and of resulting material injury that was...
ZTE has released a number of really compelling, high-end devices this year, including the Nubia Z9, Nubia Z9 Max and the ZTE Axon variants. The company has, however, announced yet another press conference quite recently, and scheduled it for July 29th, which is today. It was rumored that the company plans to announce the ZTE V5, a handset which has leaked quite recently. Well, has announced that handset, but it’s not called ZTE V5, but ZTE Star 3, a naming which we’ve heard plenty of times thus far. The ZTE Star 3 features a 5.5-inch 1080p (1920 x 1080, 401 PPI) display, and it is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 615 64-bit octa-core processor running at 1.5GHz which ships with an Adreno 405 GPU. This device will ship with 2GB of RAM and 16 GB of expandable internal storage (expandable up...
Following successful launches last year, Rexam has expanded design capabilities in its UK and Russian Design Centres. The investment in Luton (UK) sees the installation of a fully operational design reproduction studio, whilst new state of the art technology is now available in the Russian centre based in Moscow. The new in-house design capabilities at Luton, offer a simplified design process for not only creation of designs, but also full design reproduction. This investment now enables the customer to collaborate with Rexam experts through every step of the process, from design creation, ink rematching, colour separation and design reproduction, right through to proof can production. Rexam now leads the industry, as the only beverage can maker to currently provide a full suite of design...
A high-specification glass and aluminium façade has been created using advanced Wicona-brand curtain walling solutions for a £24 million regeneration project overlooking the River Clyde in Glasgow. The new administrative headquarters for Police Scotland will provide Grade “A” office accommodation for more than 1,000 officers and civilian staff. Designed by Cooper Cromar Architects and built by Morgan Sindall, Riverside East forms part of Clyde Gateway – Scotland’s largest and most ambitious regeneration project which is delivering a physical, social and economic transformation on either side of the Clyde in the east end of Glasgow and South Lanarkshire. Constructed to the highest possible technical and environmental specifications, the building’s design had to respond to specific...
The American Architectural Manufacturers Association, Schaumburg, Illinois, updated and released two documents specific to aluminum finishes: AAMA 612-15 and AAMA 2603-15. AAMA 612 describes test procedures and performance requirements for architectural quality combined finishes of anodic oxide sealed with a transparent organic coating, commonly referred to as the “combined coatings,” applied to aluminum extrusions and panels for architectural products. Similarly, AAMA 2603 covers procedures and requirements for pigmented organic coatings applied to aluminum extrusions and panels. This standard covers factory-applied coatings only. According to Spectrum Metal Finishing’s Neil Chrisman, chair of the AAMA Aluminum Material Council (AMC) Finishes Committee, both of these documents needed to...
Amtek Auto Ltd, the Arvind Dham-led automotive component supplier is routing the acquisition of Germany-based Rege Holding GmbH (Rege) through its public listed subsidiary JMT Auto. Jamshedpur-based JMT Auto through its Singapore-based special purpose vehicle (SPV) has acquired Rege for an undisclosed amount. Earlier in May this year, Amtek Auto said it is acquiring Rege through its wholly-owned Singapore-based subsidiary Amtek Precision Engineering Pte Ltd. Rege founded in 1987 and manufactures products like connecting rods, crankcases, cylinder heads, gear housings and valve body components. It has two manufacturing plants—one each in Germany and Romania. Rege generates majority of its revenues acting as a tier I and single-source supplier to leading automotive companies globally. JMT...
The European domestic market for aluminium foil made a welcome return to growth in Q2. It improved by 0.3% compared with the same period in 2014. This means that the shortfall on total deliveries has narrowed to just 0.7%, down markedly from the 2.5% seen in the first three months of 2015, according to new figures released by EAFA, the European Aluminium Foil Association. From January to June deliveries in the EAFA region were 439,300 tonnes (compared with 442,200t for the first six months of 2014). Once again thicker gauges, used typically for semi-rigid containers and technical applications, led the way with an increase of 4.5%, continuing the growth established at the end of last year, following a considerable period of decline. Demand for thinner gauges, used mainly for flexible...
The Plug has been a staple of the Charge Bikes lineup since 2006 when it was an iconic bike in the London fixed wheel craze, before evolving, and merging with the Filter, to become a range of mostly disc-equipped road bikes. For 2016 the Plug gets a major update. A new aluminium frame is used across most of the range, with a new titanium model spearheading the lineup, and carbon fibre forks and tyre widths increased to 38 and 42mm. Last year’s Plug, with a steel frame, fork and disc brakes, was well received. Stu really got on well with the Plug 4 last year when he reviewed it. Charge are keen to point out that the remit of the Plug isn’t to be a road racing bike, it’s aimed at commuters and those wanting an adventure type of bike. It would also be an ideal touring bike as well especially...
