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 privately-held FourWinds Group of Companies plans to develop an aluminium project and an educational complex in Abu Dhabi for a total cost of about US$500 million. The group is keen to expand its operations in Abu Dhabi’s industrial sector, particularly in the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad), a free zone that houses the smelter Emirates Aluminium (Emal) and Khalifa Port. FourWinds, which invests in property, infrastructure, industry and natural resources, is focused on the automotive parts industry in Abu Dhabi. “We have a strategy in aluminium and we are negotiating an [aluminium] facility in the proximity of Emal to actually manufacture again for the automotive industry certain aluminium components. We are already negotiating offtake agreements with certain buyers in...
Constellium N.V. today unveiled its newly expanded plant in Van Buren, Michigan. This state-of-the-art facility produces customized automotive structures and features advanced prototyping and development capabilities. The 210,000 square foot expansion project has doubled plant manufacturing capacity for a total $40 million investment. “Constellium is making extensive investments across the United States both in automotive structural parts and Body-in-White,” said Pierre Vareille, Chief Executive Officer of Constellium. “Through the newly expanded Van Buren plant we are now well-positioned to take full advantage of the growing automotive demand for aluminium structures in North America.” “Van Buren is an ideal location,” commented Paul Warton, President of Constellium’s Automotive...
The recent Alcoa results show the company is making a great shift from upstream operations to downstream sector and achieving positive results as a consequence. Alcoa has made positive growth projections for the year 2015 across the different sections of the downstream business including aerospace, automotive, building, construction, industrial gas turbines and packaging end markets. Growth predictions for global aerospace sales are estimated at 9 to 10 percent in 2015 as there are several deliveries listed for the year across large commercial aircraft, regional jet and business jet segments. Global automotive production increase is touted at 2 to 4 percent for 2015 with 1 to 4 percent expected rise in North America. In the sections of commercial building and construction market,...
Liaoning Zhongda Aluminum Co. will invest 1.12 billion yuan ($180 million) to build three aluminum processing projects in Inner Mongolia’s Holingola, local media reported yesterday. The company plans to start construction on 100,000-tpy industrial aluminum extrusion bar project this May and put it into operations next year. 200,000-tpy aluminum alloy plate project is slated to begin construction in May 2016, and come online in June 2017. Besides, ground will be broken on another project that produces aluminum parts for 3,000 robots this August, with operations expected in October 2017, it added.
Close on the heels of launching the country’s cheapest fully faired motorcycle, the Gixxer SF, Suzuki has announced that two new liter class bikes will be introduced to Indian motorcyclists this year. Building on the popularity of the Hayabusa and the Intruder would be the GSX-S1000 naked and the S1000F, which is a faired iteration of the streetfighter. To be launched internationally in June, both models could land here in the same month. Built around a twin-spar aluminium frame which is lighter than the current GSX-R1000, both these Suzukis come equipped with KYB inverted front forks and a single, link-type rear monoshock. The instrument cluster is a white back-lit screen that reads out speed, revs, has an odometer, dual tripmeters, gear position indicator, coolant and ambient...
A two year £4.0m investment programme is taking shape at the Vetchberry Steels, the coil processing division of ThyssenKrupp Materials (UK) Ltd. Following the relocation of a newly installed 1650 mm wide coil cut to length li ne which will form the nucleus of a dedicated sheet and blanks production centre for stainless steel and aluminium, the ground work is getting underway for a new 1850 mm wide coil slitting line. Adrian Palmer, operations manager for the business explains: “The new line, built by Georg in Germany and the UK, requires a looping pit as deep as a three-storey block of flats is tall.” Preparation involved sinking 132 concrete piles 15 metres deep to support the excavation, and around 100,000 gallons of subterranean spring water has been environmentally recycled. The work...
Triyards, the Singapore-based shipbuilder has received orders worth $100 million for a three-pronged project including a liftboat, a high-speed aluminium craft along with a fabrication project. Strategic Marine, a subsidiary of Triyards will be responsible for building the aluminium craft along with the integrated logistics support work, the company announced. Triyards CEO Chan Eng Yew said: "Our fast-growing contract wins across a diverse product range demonstrate the industry's high regard for our fabrication capabilities in both steel and aluminium vessels. Not only are we able to deliver on our exclusively designed liftboats, we are also gaining traction in securing other types of vessel orders." The new high-speed aluminium craft is expected to be completed and delivered in four...
Luoyang Huazhong Aluminum Co. will put its 150,000-tpy aluminum extrusion project in Henan on trial soon, local media reported today. The project represents 1.77 billion yuan ($290 million) in total investment and will generate 4.2 billion yuan in sales revenues once fully operational, it said.
National Aluminium Products Company (Napco) will commence production from its expanded facilities by the first quarter of 2016. Napco is implementing a major expansion programme to double its extrusion capacity and quadruple powder coating services, the company's chief executive officer Robert Holtkamp told Times of Oman. "We are midway through the civil works on a 15,000 square meter-plot and expect the civil phase to conclude by June, 2015. This would bring our total operating land space to roughly 65,000 square metres. We are bringing in two more extrusion presses from Spain and one vertical powder coating line from Italy. By the end of 2015, we will have a total of four extrusion presses, vertical and horizontal powder coating lines, one anodizing line, two wood-finish lines, a...
Alexandria Industries’ CEO, Tom Schabel received the Distinguished Service Award from the Aluminium Extruders Council (AEC) considered to be their highest honour recognizing exceptional dedication and service to the industry. Schabel has been a member of the Council since 2005, serving as the Chairman from 2009-10 with experience in the field of aluminium extrusion and precision machining industry since 1977. The most notable contribution made by him is to protect the industry from illegal and unfair trade practices of Chinese extruders by leading AEC to take up the issue with the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) resulting in the imposition of the Fair Trade Act. Leaders recognize Schabel’s involvement in the industry. “He helped re-invent the Aluminum Extruders Council, taking it from a...
Researchers at Stanford have invented a new technology in battery, building an aluminium battery that is flexible and can be charged in 1 minute. As use of smartphones escalate, the issue of battery backup continues to grow forcing people to carry along charging cables or powerbank everywhere. This battery, in contrast to lithium-ion batteries promises to be cheaper, safer and last longer, the researchers assured. The battery contains negatively charged aluminium anode and positively charged graphite cathode suspended on a ionic liquid electrolyte which can be housed in polymer-coated pouches making them flexible as fell as less susceptible to fire and explosions. However, the challenge at present is to find materials capable of producing sufficient voltage after repeated cycles of...
Showa Denko has completed construction work to expand its capacity in China to produce high-purity aluminum foil, which is a major material for aluminum electrolytic capacitors. The expanded plant went into quantity production this April. Aluminum electrolytic capacitors are used in wide areas such as electric appliances, IT devices, electric vehicles, hybrid cars and equipment for power generation utilizing renewable energy sources. Especially in China, the demand for medium- and high-voltage electrolytic capacitors is expected to increase in applications including power conditioners for environment friendly cars and solar power generation. Showa Denko Aluminum (Nantong) Co., Ltd. (SDAN), a consolidated subsidiary of SDK, has been conducting final processing of rolled aluminum foil as...
It's early, but Ford says it's so far so good on repairing damaged 2015 F-150 pickups with aluminum bodies. Ford has not heard of any dealers or independent body shops having problems obtaining parts, installing parts or dealing with insurance companies about the time it takes to repair the new pickup, said Ford spokeswoman Elizabeth Weigandt. Ford estimates that 80 percent of body repairs will be routine fixes involving steel bumpers, grilles, mirrors and surface panels. "Ford has been planning for this vehicle since 2009," Weigandt said. "At this time, everything is going according to plan, and we have not noted any issues requiring a change. We will continue to monitor and will respond accordingly if needed." Since production of the 2015 F-150 pickup began last fall, more than 100,000...
Mulder Shipyard introduces a used concept: the Mulder 2800 Raised Pilot House – Full Beam. This 28 meter, round-bilged, all-aluminium motoryacht has the features, look and feel of a superyacht. She is easy to operate, suitable for both families and chartering, and possible to sail with a limited crew and low running costs. RPH stands for “Raised Pilot House”, which means that the wheelhouse is raised to a higher position on the vessel, giving the captain a better overview and allowing other valuable options regarding layout and usability in the interior. In this design “Full Beam” means that the saloon area has side decks, while the master suite forward on the main deck does take up the whole beam of the yacht. This makes for spectacular views of the ocean right out of the bedroom and a...
China exported 390,000 mt of aluminum semis in February, up 178.57% YoY, but down 2.6% MoM, customs data showed. The Chinese New Year fell in February this year. This should have undermined aluminum semi exports. SMM attributes the unexpected rise in export volumes to token exports of aluminum plate, sheet and strip – up 170,000 mt YoY and 18,000 mt MoM to 232,000 mt. Aluminum extrusion exports were 65,000 mt, up 44,000 mt YoY, but down 2,000 MoM. Aluminum foil exports were 69,000 mt, up 22,000 mt, but down 13,000 mt MoM. Exporters locked in a large number of orders when the SHFE/LME aluminum price ratio slipped before Chinese New Year. This should result in stable exports in March. The rising SHFE/LME aluminum price ratio, combined with falling aluminum premiums overseas, could slow...
Le Bélier is a French group specializing in manufacturing molded aluminium safety components for cars and will be making an investment of 8 billion forints (EUR 26.7) in Ajka, Western Hungary, as recently announced by the foreign minister. The first phase of the project will be supported by the Hungarian government, contributing 507 million forints from the European Union Funding. Péter Szijjártó, the minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said there are even talks about the government funding the second phase of the project as well. After development, this project will create 100 jobs, boosting the annual export revenue of the Le Bélier Hungarian unit to 40 billion forints. In 2013, the unit’s export revenue came to 29 billion forints according to public records. There are 1,500 people...
Malaysian companies generated sales worth RM75.20 million from their participation at the recent Indonesia International Auto Parts, Accesories and Equip Exhibition 2015 (INAPA). Among the products of interest were automotive suspension system, anti-vibration system, lubricants, engine mountings, rubber bushings, compressors, aluminium die casting products and sealants. “INAPA served as a good market assessment platform for Malaysian companies in promoting their auto parts and components to Indonesia,” Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) quoted the companies as saying. It also enabled them to understand the local market demand and buying behaviours, the national trade promotion agency, which organised the participation of 11 Malaysian companies to INAPA said in a...
The beverage can remains a ‘novel’ form of packaging in India, according to manufacturer Rexam. But having seen a 72% increase in sales volume in 2014, the company predicts the packaging will become much more popular. The beverage can currently represents just 1% of the Indian beverage packaging market. But with GDP in the country rising, Rexam wants to grab a ‘fantastic’ opportunity for cans. Earlier this year, it announced plans for two new manufacturing plants in the country. “India is a very attractive market, with significant growth opportunities alongside major global and regional customers,” Craig Jones, AMEA sector director for Rexam, told BeverageDaily. “The country has a population of 1.3bn (growing at 2% per annum), and 60% of that population are below the age of 30. We expect...
