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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Aluminium diecaster CastAlum has invested in machining capability to process 700,000 castings a year for automotive customers. The contracts are for the supply of machined steering gear housings and transmission cases. It won the contracts shortly after a management buyout in 2009 and before that had supplied castings to customers in their raw state for machining further along the supply chain. To achieve the required machining volumes the company invested in a series of Heller twin-pallet, 4-axis, horizontal-spindle machining centres. These could be installed progressively as demand ramped up and, in contrast to a transfer line, could be reconfigured to produce almost any component in the future. The first two machines, installed in 2009, were the company’s first machine tools. There are...
China’s aluminum semis exports soared 43.7% year-on-year January-May, despite high SHFE/LME aluminum price ratio in Q2. What’s behind the sustainable growth? SMM analyzes this divergence by export model. China’s exports of aluminum semis exports can be divided into “normal” and “masked” exports. Normal exports of high-end aluminum semis are mostly under long-term contracts and priced as the LME aluminum price + processing fees. High processing fees mean that the rise in SHFE/LME aluminum price ratio has little impact on short term profits. Such exports thus hold largely stable. Exports of low-end aluminum semis are priced as the SMM aluminum price + processing fees. A growing number of Chinese firms prefer this model, which insulates their margins from the changes in SHFE/LME aluminum...
Merlin has announced a new four bike range priced between £599 and £1999. Merlin Cycles has developed a reputation for selling well equipped bikes at very reasonable prices and has now introduced a new range of aluminium framed and carbon road bikes. There are more details on Merlin’s website, but here’s a summary of the new bikes. Starting with the base model, the £599 FF1 has an aluminium frame and carbon bladed fork and comes equipped with Tiagra ten-speed shifting, an FSA Gossamer compact chainset, Tektro brakes and 4ZA wheels and components. Pay £100 more and the front and rear derailleur and shifters are upgraded to 11-speed 105, there’s Shimano braking and the wheels are Fulcrum Racing 7 LG. Next up is the ROC at £775 and designed for sportive riders. Again it’s an aluminium frame...
Owners, managers and techs in the Ottawa area had chance recently to get up to speed on aluminum welding techniques when Algonquin College and Pembroke Auto Parts hosted a clinic to teach the new techniques necessary to repair aluminum bodied vehicles. Aluminum welding and repair techniques are looming large in the minds of many repairers. Normand Carriere, owner of Pembroke Auto Parts, a local NAPA store, told Collision Repair magazine that demand for the clinic was high. According to Carriere interest in aluminum welding is growing. “It’s not just about the F-150 ... a lot of vehicles are using aluminum these days,” he says. The clinic took place at Algonquin College and was attended by more than 30 industry stakeholders. The training presented included a classroom presentation,...
Satna Ana-based forging company Aluminum Precision Products, founded in 1965, will celebrate its 50-year anniversary in October. As the aerospace industry took off back then, APP opened its doors to booming opportunities. It started out as an 8,000 square foot plant with 10 employees and now has 21 facilities, more than 700,000 square feet of production area and a team of nearly 1,000 employees. The company makes aluminum parts, including landing gear, cowling hinges, door latches and brackets for the aerospace industry. Customers in the aerospace market include Boeing, Airbus, Embraer, Lockheed Martin, Honeywell, Learjet, Bombardier, Gulfstream, Cessna, Northrup Grumman, Sikorsky, and Bell Helicopter, among others. Other industries that use APP products include firearms, medical, outdoor...
The WICLINE 95 window series is one of the most advanced aluminium-frame components to be accredited by the Passive House Institute – and the second accredited passive house window that is being produced by the Sapa group. The WICLINE 95 series is manufactured by Wicona, while the Avantis 95 series is produced by Sapa Building System. Both products have been accredited by the Passive House Institute, an independent research institute located in Darmstadt, Germany. Wicona and Sapa Building System are aluminium systems brands owned by Sapa. Wicona’s new window series maximizes energy efficiency to meet passive house criteria, and it allows design flexibility with its modular design. WICLINE 95 achieves a Uf value up to 0.68 W/(m²K) and a Uw value less than 0.80 W/(m²K), without the need for...
The American Architectural Manufacturers Association has updated and released two documents specific to aluminum finishes: AAMA 612-15, Voluntary Specification, Performance Requirements, and Test Procedures for Combined Coatings of Anodic Oxide and Transparent Organic Coatings on Architectural Aluminum, and AAMA 2603-15, Voluntary Specification, Performance Requirements and Test Procedures for Pigmented Organic Coatings on Aluminum Extrusions and Panels (with Coil Coating Appendix). 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...
Jaguar Land Rover has been presented with a 2015 Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development, for reducing the environmental impact of its products and its operations. Jaguar Land Rover’s CEO Dr Ralf Speth today received the prestigious accolade from Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of West Midlands, Mr. Paul Chandrasekharan Sabapathy CBE. Dr Ralf Speth said “Jaguar Land Rover is honoured to receive this 2015 Queen’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development. We are focused on growing a long-term, sustainable business, as leaders in environmental innovation and making a positive impact on society.” This is the 14th Queen’s Award that Jaguar and Land Rover has received since 1967. It follows a 2014 award for Enterprise in International Trade, for outstanding overseas sales...
AFL introduces an aluminum coil bracket for splice enclosures including its Opti-Guard and SB01 products. The aluminum coil bracket is much lighter, making it easier to ship and install. Initially manufactured with steel which required palletizing and stacking for shipment, the new aluminum unit is 25 percent of the weight of the previous unit, making it easier to handle and install onto structures. The new bracket consists of three-pieces, is easy to assemble and ships in a box preventing damage to the unit. Furthermore, the bracket now includes banding slots added to the vertical body extrusion portion of the unit for more versatility in the attachment schemes to the structures. “We listened to our customers and engineered the aluminum coil bracket to help field technicians install...
Investors in metal sectors like steel, aluminium and ferroalloys with outlays exceeding Rs 1,000 crore need to establish downstream parks if they want to put up their projects in Special Economic Zones (SEZs). The SEZ policy recently released by the state government says the downstream parks have to be put up on an area of at least 200 acres. "For metal processing industries such a downstream park should be located adjoining the metal producing plant with arrangement for supply of molten metal. The basic infrastructure of downstream park such as road, power, water supply, drainage and other common utilities shall be provided by the SEZ developer", the policy says. The mineral based SEZs already approved would undertake to develop/promote related downstream industrial complex over a...
Operating rates at Chinese aluminum rolling mills will fall in June due to softer end user demand, SMM predicts. Hot summer will undermine activity in construction, transportation, and home appliance sectors, hurting demand for aluminum plate, strip and foil. The operating rate in foil segment should drop to 61% in June from May’s 63.79%, and that in plate & strip segment should slide to 62% from May’s 63.07%. Operating rate at Chinese aluminum extruders is expected to drop to 58% in June as high temperatures will undermine productivity, SMM foresees. The rate at construction aluminum extruders will fall to 57% from May’s 59.19%, and that at industrial aluminum extruders will drop to 63% from 66.92% in May, based on SMM’s survey of 30 aluminum extruders in China.
MINTH broke ground on its all- aluminum electric vehicle (EV) project in Jiaxing, Zhejiang Province, on June 19, cnmn.com reported. The project, with total investment at 1.5 billion yuan ($240 million), is scheduled to produce 200,000 EVs per year and yield 10 billion yuan in revenues once operational. The article is edited by SMM and is provided for information purpose only. SMM assumes no liability and does not warrant the accuracy, reliability or completeness of information contained or quoted in the article, either express or implied. SMM further disclaims any liability for losses in connection with the information contained or quoted in the article.
Flexible Packaging Europe (FPE) member companies, representing about 80% of the European turnover, have expressed concerns about the current raw material supply situation, during their recent annual conference in Dubrovnik. More than 30 ‘force majeure’ declarations by the leading polymer manufacturers in Europe, coming in a short time frame, has led to significant shortages in the supply which resulted in only about 80% capacity being available, depending on the polymer. The effect on converters means they may have difficulties in supplying finished products to meet their customers order requirements, particularly in the food and beverage sectors. FPE member companies have had to deal with increased complexity in their production schedules due the insufficient raw material supply. They...
AUDI, GEELY and MAGNA together with DGS, Kurtz, Guangdong Hongtu, Kobelco, Sapa, Novelis, Strikowestofen, JSC and Voestalpine are going to present their newest lightweight achievements and competences at the up-coming Asia Automotive Lightweight Procurement Symposium, which will take place from the 6th – 8th of July 2015 at the Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel in Shanghai. A long list of International as well as national automotive lightweight executives have already signed up for the 2nd Automotive Lightweight Procurement Symposium. Beside a row of exiting speeches focused on the topic Automotive Lightweighting, supply chain and procurement management, the symposium is also an ideal location to interchange with executives from many leading OEMs and suppliers from all over the world. The...
The new Opel Astra K- the ninth generation of Opel’s best-selling vehicle - will debut its sleek new sheetmetal to the public at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September. Similarly, Opel will also use the show to debut another crucial ingredient found under the hood of the new Astra - a new, all-aluminum 1.4L Ecotec Direct Injection Turbo engine. The new turbo four comes available in two states of tune: 125 hp or a slightly zestier 150 hp, and we’re told that the 1.4L can produce maximum torque of 245 Nm (180 pound-feet) from 2,000 RPM through to 3,500 RPM. Opel says it paid much attention to “dynamic responsiveness and high performance”, while also aiming to curb fuel consumption. Opel is also confident that the new engine will outperform even the 2.0L powerplants it currently offers and, as...
BMC have launched the new aluminium TeamMachine ALR01 road bike for 2016, inspired by their flagship carbon TeamMachine. The Swiss firm’s announcement follows the likes of Trek, whose Emonda ALR is based on their super-light flagship climbing machine, and will see – according to BMC – top-end performance delivered at entry-level. The new aluminium machine shares the traditional road geometry of its carbon sibling, based on ACE Technology-derived tube shapes, where thousands of possible iterations were put through a computer before the final frame was settled upon. Up front the bike will boast a full carbon fork, shared with the TeamMachine SLR03, while stiffness is said to be improved by the offset seattube. A tapered headtube (1-1/8” to 1-1/2”), asymmetric chain stays and a downtube and...
Demand for aluminum semi-fabricated (mill) products in the United States and Canada (measured in shipments by domestic producers plus imports) totaled an estimated 1,527 million pounds in April, increasing 7.8 percent over the April 2014 total of 1,416 million pounds. Aluminum sheet and plate totaled 848 million pounds in April, up 8.5 percent. Extruded products were up 6.4 percent year-over-year to 436 million pounds. Estimated shipments of aluminum ingot for castings, exports and other uses totaled 589 million pounds, down 6.9 percent from a year ago. Apparent consumption in domestic U.S. and Canada markets totaled 1,884 million pounds in April, up 6.7 percent over the April 2014 total of 1,765 million pounds. Through the first four months of 2015, estimated apparent consumption totaled...
Large mirrors concentrating solar rays could not only power electricity-generating turbines but also melt metals, to help reduce carbon footprint of the metal processing industry. The concept has been proposed by researchers from Germany and South Africa and will use South Africa’s large aluminium processing industry as a test bed. The researchers envision the solar mirrors would focus sun rays to achieve temperatures of around 700 °C to power a rotary solar kiln, a device resembling a washing machine drum, melting the aluminium ore as well as recycled aluminium objects. The system will first be tested at the German Aerospace Centre’s (DLR) Institute of Solar Research in Jülich before being implemented in South Africa. In addition to the system itself, the project partners will prepare a...
