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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The Plain Bearings business unit of KSPG Automotive India is setting up a new plant at Supa, 75km to the east of Pune, for production of raw materials used in the manufacture of plain bearings. The need for a new plant has been necessitated by the fact that the company’s lease for the existing production site in Ahmednagar expires in 2016. The new plant premises, spread across 40,000 square metres, are scheduled for completion by the end of 2015. The ground-breaking ceremony was held earlier this year by Sascha Putz, president, BU Bearings, and Ratan Mohapatra, managing director of KSPG India, in the presence of senior executives and Works Council members. "The new building is an important step in our efforts to strengthen our activities in the Indian market and a commitment to the future...
Constellium N.V. will announce its second quarter 2015 financial results on Wednesday, August 5, 2015. A conference call and webcast to present the results will take place at 11:00 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time) on the same day. The conference call will be hosted by Pierre Vareille, Chief Executive Officer, and Didier Fontaine, Chief Financial Officer. Details of the conference call, webcast and accompanying presentation will be available on the Investor Relations page at Constellium website.
Technal-brand aluminium curtain walling systems have contributed to an “A” rating for energy efficiency for The Codeworks – a striking new office and data center which forms the first phase of the Strata Campus in Stockport, UK. The 30,000-square-foot development for the insurance software specialists Cheshire Datasystems Limited (CDL) occupies a riverfront site and is part of a multi-million pound investment program to accommodate the company’s growing workforce. External walls of white-facing brick contrast effectively with large areas of Technal’s GEODE-MX Visible Grid curtain walling carrying panels of glass in different shades of green. The system was used to create full-height glazing spanning three stories across the south elevation, where high-performance glass is used to control...
US automaker Ford rolled out a deluxe version of its F-150 aluminum-bodied pickup truck Tuesday, betting on high-end touches as it ramps up production of its most popular vehicle. Dubbed the F-150 Limited, the light-duty truck is loaded with gadgets, including a 360-degree camera, massaging front seats and luxury interior and exterior design touches. "The F-150 Limited sets a new bar for what discerning customers should expect in a high-end truck," said Raj Nair, Ford group vice president, Global Product Development, in a statement. The F-150 Limited extends the current five-model F-150 portfolio, whose top-end is the Platinum, with a base price of $51,585. The 2016 Limited will go on sale in the winter, Ford said, without giving any price details. Pickup trucks and crossover sport...
According to the Aluminum Association reports, estimated shipments of Aluminum Foil by U.S. and Canadian producers totaled 82.4 million pounds during June 2015, a decrease of 7.0 percent from the June 2014 total of 88.6 million pounds. Compared to the previous month, shipments were off 4.1 percent from the May 2015 total of 85.9 million pounds. Year-to-date shipments through June 2015 totaled 481.1 million pounds, down 6.4 percent from the 2014 year-to-date total of 514.2 million pounds. Estimated net shipments of Aluminum Sheet and Plate by U.S. and Canadian producers totaled 730.5 million pounds during June 2015, a rise of 4.3 percent over the June 2014 total of 700.1 million pounds. Compared to the previous month, shipments increased 4.7 percent over the May 2015 revised total of 697.9...
Wrightstyle, a brand synonymous with bomb blast safety in the whole of Europe completed a decade of successful glazing systems business this year. In 2000, the company introduced its first ground-breaking glazing system which had the capacity to withstand the pressure impact of a powerful lorry bomb. Since then, the proven solution has dominated the market. At the initial phase, Wrightstyle was approached by the Central Security and Co-ordination Command Centre with a set of specifications for ensuring total safety of the Asian Games hosted in Doha, Qatar in December 2006. The specially designed USD $31million building was supposed to be handed over to the Qatar military on completion of the Games. Accordingly, the glazing system was independently tested against the equivalent of 500...
Kaiser Aluminum Corp., the Foothill Ranch-based maker of semi-fabricated aluminum products for defense, aviation and automotive industries, beat Wall Street expectations on second-quarter revenue and income. The company posted net income of $20 million, or $1.11 per diluted share, compared to net income and earnings per diluted share of $25 million and $1.33, respectively, for the prior-year period. Its adjusted earnings were $23 million, or $1.27 per share, for the quarter. Analysts expected earnings of $1.19 cents for the quarter. The company also beat Wall Street’s revenue outlook. Its net sales totaled $367 million for the second quarter compared with analysts’ expectations of $366.5 million. “Our results for shipments, value added revenue, and EBITDA were all [company] records ......
Hydro's underlying earnings before financial items and tax declined to NOK 2,667 million in the second quarter from NOK 3,208 million in the first quarter of 2015, mainly reflecting lower aluminium prices and premiums. Stronger seasonal sales volumes lifted downstream results to the highest level since Hydro became a pure aluminium company in 2007. "Results this quarter are affected by weaker prices, but I am pleased to see demand growing and aluminium taking over as the preferred metal in more and more applications, contributing to record results in our downstream operations," says President and CEO Svein Richard Brandtzæg. Improved results in Rolled Products and Sapa partially offset the effect of a challenging upstream market. Rolled Products delivered improved underlying EBIT mainly...
Two premium car makers Audi and Honda are all set to launch their next generation supercar models built around an exclusive aluminium-carbon fiber space-frame. Audi R8, the second generation supercar, has the original design of the Ingolstadt with the 5.2-litre V10 engine placed behind the cabin. It has two levels of tuning: 397kW or 449kW, the latter primarily meant to hit 100km/h in 3.2 seconds. The car made its first appearance at the International Champions Cup, Melbourne last weekend. Honda NSX is a revised version of the famous 90's NSX. While the original had an all-aluminium make, the latest model is built around an aluminium-carbon fiber-steel space frame. The hybrid supercar, Honda NSX is powered by a 3.5-litre turbocharged V6 engine along with three additional electric motors....
As always, Thomson Reuters' Andy Home turns out some excellent commentary backed by solid statistics. In a recent article, he reviews comments made by Alcoa Inc's Klaus Kleinfeld about China’s primary aluminum production leaking out of the country under the cover of the burgeoning export trade in semi-finished products. As the article explains, China exported 2.5 million metric tons of unwrought aluminum and aluminum products in the first half of the year. That was 35% or a 650,000-mt increase over the same period last year. Untaxed Semis, Taxed Ingots The temptation for Chinese producers to ship primary metal for export is significant in a domestic market oversupplied with unwrought primary metal, but producers are dissuaded from exporting ingot by a 15% export tax and a negative...
The EU's competition regulator has opened an in-depth probe into the proposed takeover of Rexam, the British maker of beverage cans, by US peer Ball Corporation in an offer worth £4.3bn. In a statement, the European Commission, the EU's executive body, said it had concerns that the proposed transaction announced in February "may reduce competition in the beverage can and aluminium bottle manufacturing industry" in the European single market. "Very many of us buy drinks in cans - they are convenient and used everywhere," EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said. "It is therefore very important that the Commission makes sure that Ball's takeover of Rexam does not restrict effective competition and so risk price increases that could be passed on to consumers." Rexam and Ball are...
European Aluminium regrets the absence of an EU-wide solution to shield the most exposed industries from the indirect costs of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) in today’s proposal from the European Commission. Without a harmonised scheme for full compensation of carbon costs passed on by utilities in all Member States, Europe‘s entire aluminium value chain remains in jeopardy. Director-General, European Aluminium Gerd Götz issues the following statement: "Today’s proposal falls short in terms of restoring our global competitiveness. It ignores unanimous calls from all 28 Member States and the European Parliament for harmonised EU compensation for indirect ETS costs. Our sector is the most exposed to carbon leakage as a result of these costs, which are 6 to 7 times higher than the direct...
Aluminum is a big part of the greener future of cars and trucks, offering lighter weight, more strength, less corrosion and improved fuel economy. However the repair work for the automotive could be quite costly too. “It’s going to be a big shift,” says Bill Davidge, national technology manager of Carstar, a U.S.-based body shop chain with 230 outlets in Canada. Aluminum has three qualities that make it more difficult to repair than steel. - Unlike steel, damaged aluminum has no “memory” or “desire” to return to its original shape. It wants to remain in its new state. So repairs take more time and effort, and different techniques. For one thing, the metal must be heated while being pulled or hammered back into shape. Mixing aluminum with small amounts of other metals can create extremely...
Green aluminium panels cover the facade of this contemporary art gallery in Auckland, New Zealand, where a ceiling shaped like a gramophone horn funnels in light from an opening in the roof. The Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery by local studio Mitchell and Stout Architects is set on a sloping site in the Auckland suburb of Titirangi. The interior spaces are spread across six floors, three above ground and three partially submerged in earth. The building's facade follows the curve of an almond-shaped staircase and an angled entrance hall within, and is clad in panels of green-painted aluminium sheeting that give the appearance of weathered copper. The staircase has scalloped soffits and rises from the entrance hall to the white-walled galleries above, while an education centre,...
China Zhongwang, the second largest industrial aluminium extrusion product developer and manufacturer in the world and the biggest one in Asia, announced that it has successfully designed, manufactured and developed all-aluminium new energy electric buses for Brilliance Bus (Dalian) Company Limited (“Brilliance Bus”). This co-operation marks China Zhongwang’s inauguration as the first and only aluminium processing enterprise in China to have the capability of undertaking both the design and manufacturing of all-aluminium new energy public buses. Brilliance BusDesigner Sun Hong said,“The strategic partnership between Brilliance Bus and China Zhongwang combines Zhongwang’s strengths in the development and formation of aluminium alloy, and welding of aluminium extrusion products, as well as...
The management team at Smethwick aluminium extrusion company LA Metals has bought out the company's founding partners. The management buyout (MBO) was led by managing director Joe Mullally and sales director Andy Wolliscroft and supported by a commercial finance package from NatWest Structured Finance in Birmingham. Mullally said: "From a very solid base, LA Metals has flourished over the last few years and the timing was appropriate for an MBO to secure the company's future, whilst allowing the founding partners to take advantage of their retirement plans. "With the support from our current funders, NatWest, who have had a long association with LA Metals, we hope to be able to exploit opportunities throughout the region and grow the business in the niche areas that we have created." DNA...
The ongoing shift to increased use of aluminum in auto bodies is also leading to an uptick in the use of bonded rivets for attaching parts. Pfaff Autoworks is keeping up with the changes by training technicians in the proper use of bonded riveting. Today's most sophisticated cars are making more use of exotic materials. The days when welded steel was the only game in town are long gone. Today, cars like the Ford F-150 and Audi A7 are featuring much more aluminum than ever before. As OEMs use more of this lightweight metal, more parts are being joined with bonded rivets, and in turn posing new challenges for collision repair technicians. As it is, riveting can create stronger bonds between a vehicle’s body parts. A riveted body can better withstand a collision. But, if the rivets are not...
Underlying EBIT for Sapa increased compared to the previous quarter, due to seasonally higher sales volumes, strong North American market development, as well as improvement programs progressing ahead of plan across the organization. The second quarter results were also impacted negatively by sharply falling metal premiums in North America. Underlying EBIT increased compared to the same quarter of the previous year driven by strong North American demand, positive currency effects, as well as positive contributions from improvement programs and restructuring efforts. Underlying EBIT for the first half of 2015 improved by more than 70 percent compared with the same period in 2014, influenced by the same factors discussed above. Reported EBIT for Sapa for the second quarter was negatively...
