
Novelis has supplied approximately 100,000 m² of aluminium façade materials for six construction projects across the UK, highlighting the metal's growing role in architectural design, infrastructure modernisation and urban regeneration. The materials have been used across developments in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham and London, covering applications ranging from transport infrastructure and residential refurbishment to commercial and mixed-use buildings. The projects demonstrate the versatility of aluminium in modern building envelopes, with Novelis supplying architectural materials designed to combine durability, aesthetic flexibility and performance. Aluminium supports diverse architectural applications Commenting on the projects, Michael Hahne, Vice President Commercial of Novelis...
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...
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New employees at Jaguar Land Rover in Solihull will help the firm build an aluminium car which will be unveiled at a motor show in Detroit. The new model is based on the C-X17 concept car which the company first showed off in Frankfurt in 2013. It will be a cross between a saloon and a 4x4 and it is designed to rival cars like the BMW X3 and the Audi A5. The car will be built at the company's Lode Lane factory, which makes Range Rovers and the brand new, aluminium Jaguar XE. Jaguar Land Rover's new car will be aluminium and will be powered by engines made at the company's plant at Wolverhampton, which was opened by the Queen just a few weeks ago. The Solihull factory has recently undergone a massive rebuild and expansion with new lines installed to build various models simultaneously....

The Jaguar XE, announced last year at the Detroit Auto Show, is due to be released in 2015 and giving rise to 1,700 in-house jobs at Solihull, 700 at the DHL for parts supply and more than 2,000 across the supply chain. Jaguar Land Rover CEO Ralf Speth said: “Today’s announcements once again demonstrate our commitment to the UK and the advancement of a high-tech, high skilled, manufacturing-led economy. “Jaguar Land Rover is committed to delivering more great products. It is that innovation and relentless quest for new technologies that sets our products apart. “We want to offer customers greater choice, with even more exciting vehicles, crafted with that special British flair.” Jaguar Land Rover has already invested around £1.5 billion to support the release of the aluminium-intensive...

Alcoa has been in the automotive aluminum business since Ford's Model T, but the company's 2015 F-150 and plans by other automakers to increase use of the lighter-weight material gave the supplier high hopes for the future and prompted an expansion. The global company with an operational base in Pittsburgh has invested $670 million to expand capacity, starting with $300 million at Davenport Works plant in Bettendorf, Iowa, and the creation of 150 jobs to meet Ford's needs to launch an aluminum-bodied pickup in the fall of 2014. For its innovation and expansion to meet the needs of the automotive industry, Alcoa is the winner of the supplier category of the 2015 Detroit Free Press Automotive Leadership Awards. Another 200 jobs and $300 million investment was added in Alcoa, Tenn., to...

Sapa has sold its HatiCon operations to the German company Mounting Systems GmbH. HatiCon produces, markets and sells aluminium extrusion-based mounting systems for the solar industry. The agreement reached today means that Mounting Systems GmBH, will with immediate effect take over the operations for HatiCon Germany GmbH, including the U.S. company HatiCon Solar, LLC. The divestment concludes a process in which the management of Sapa’s aluminium building systems business area also had evaluated new restructuring measures following challenging market conditions in the solar industry in Europe. “Combining Mounting Systems and HatiCon will be an opportunity to create a strong and competitive player in the photovoltaic and solar thermal mounting systems industry,” says Karsten Lundgaard,...

Announced ahead of the 2015 International CES, the new ATIV Book 9 combines a dazzling 12.2-inch display and an all-aluminium body construction with a 10-hour battery life. Samsung said in the lead up to this year's Consumer Electronics Show that tech journalists and consumers shouldn't expect any surprises from it at this year's event. However, the lightweight, premium notebook could well be a shock, especially for Apple. The new ATIV Book 9 has a 247ppi display. That's quadHD and a higher resolution than the display on Apple's current premium 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display. The computer uses an Intel Broadwell chip so can run without an internal cooling fan, meaning the chassis is thinner and lighter – only 11.8mm thick and the whole thing weighs just 950g. As well as the...

The wider use of aluminum in mass-produced American cars and trucks, led by Ford Motor Co. ’s F-150, is a “transformational” event that has led Constellium NV, one of the world’s biggest aluminum companies, to shift its focus to the U.S. from Europe, Chief Executive Pierre Vareille said in an interview. Car makers are increasingly using aluminum instead of steel as they try to meet new government fuel-efficiency standards by making cars lighter. By 2025, 18% of all vehicles in the U.S. are expected to have all-aluminum bodies, compared with less than 1% now, according to Ducker Worldwide LLC, a consulting and market-research firm. “In Europe, for the time being the cars that have switched to aluminum are high brand,” Mr. Vareille said. “In this country, it is the high [volume] sellers,...

Cigweld introduces two new welding inverters designed to produce excellent seal quality on some of the thinnest materials. Cigweld’s Transtig 220AC/DC and 300AC/DC Series aluminium welders combine the finest hardware with the latest digital software control systems, and come with DC stick, AC/DC Lift TIG and AC/DC HF TIG. In TIG welding setting, the Transtig 220AC/DC and 300AC/DC are capable of pulse welding, spot welding, 2T (Normal) and 4T (Latch) modes, making them ideal for a range of applications from boat building and panel beating to precision work in chemistry, wine or water tank installations. The Transtig 220AC/DC and 300AC/DC welding inverters are packed with the latest safety features to allow the operator to weld harder confidently, while the increased number of controls at...

High speed train manufacturer Talgo has shipped its first trainset to Saudi Arabia. The shipment includes 13 coaches and two power heads and will form the first part of the highly anticipated high-speed pilgrim train project - a multi-billion dollar project linking the holy cities of Makkah and Medina via the King Abdullah Economic City and Jeddah. The first of those trains is now inbound to Jeddah aboard a specially adapted cargo ship. The model of train supplied under this project is the high-speed TALGO 350, commonly known in the railway industry as "El Pato" (The Duck), because of the aerodynamic shape of its power heads. The Duck and its passenger coaches are constructed from lightweight aluminium which not only cut power and energy requirements, but allow the trains to accelerate up...

Flexible packaging, like the ones made of plastics, paper and aluminium could reach a volume of 19.2 million tonnes in the European market by 2021, according to a Germany-based research group Ceresana. The demand for flexible packaging is constantly increasing as there are many options available in this type of packaging as opposed to its rigid counterparts. Ceresana includes in its study not just the flexible packaging that is available to the end user through the retail stores but also the secondary and tertiary band of packaging that I used to pack and transport goods, including the heavy duty industrial packaging like sacks and flexible intermediate bulk containers. The fact that these kind of packaging have low weight while providing most of the benefits of rigid packaging means that...

When Korea Aluminium Installed Nordson Extrusion Dies Industries EPC™ Die on an Existing Coating Line, Thickness Tolerances Were Narrowed by 50 to 60% An advanced extrusion coating die designed to reduce edge bead has enabled one leading producer of aluminum foil and foil-laminate flexible packaging to actually eliminate edge bead, as well as reducing coat width variation by half or more, it was announced today by Nordson Corporation. After a die for applying LDPE on an existing production line for flexible food packaging had been causing problems with die lines and leakage, Korea Aluminium Co. Ltd. recently replaced it with the Nordson Extrusion Dies Industries Edge Profile Control (EPC™) die. The new die has not only eliminated the previous problems but has also made it possible to...

Gulf Extrusions (Gulfex), a leading global manufacturer of extruded aluminium products, in partnership with the American University of Sharjah , has recently organized a workshop on Supply Chain Management (SCM) for its senior management team at (Waldorf Astoria-The Palm). The objective of the workshop was to build a strong learning base in the management of the flow of goods for its employees and contribute towards human resource in the field. The workshop included assessment of detailed case studies and hands-on training with enough time for participants to assimilate the material presented. The 3 days Excellence Program was divided into various sessions and covered key topics, including Introduction to Supply Chain Management, Demand Management and Forecasting Techniques, Master...

ALUEXPO 2015 4th International Aluminium Technologies, Machinery and Products Trade Fair is organized by Hannover Messe Fuarcilik A.S. a subsidiary of Deutsche Messe, between October 08-10, 2015, at Istanbul Expo Center Halls: 9 – 10 – 11 Since 2009 edition ALUEXPO has preserved its importance as an international gathering for aluminium industry. ALUEXPO 2015 4th International Aluminium Technologies, Machinery and Products Trade Fair organized with the full support of TALSAD - Turkish aluminium Industrialists Association In Aluexpo 2015, leading national aluminium producers including TALSAD - Turkish Aluminium Industrialists Association members and global aluminium supplier companies will have a unique opportunity to exhibit their products and marketing. Aluexpo will be organized fourth...

Hydro, the leading European aluminium company, started construction Monday, January 5, of a new, modern automotive production line for lightweight car body sheet at its plant in Grevenbroich, Germany. The EUR 130 million investment will boost Hydro’s annual capacity for aluminium car body sheet from 50,000 tonnes today to 200,000 tonnes. The new facility will meet the future market growth of lightweight automotive body panels, using Hydro´s new formable aluminium alloys. Lightweight design with aluminum enables vehicles to save fuel and emit less CO2 through the entire lifecycle. "The investment is meeting customers' increasing demand for high-performance aluminium sheets for lighter car bodies," says Kjetil Ebbesberg, Executive Vice President and head of Rolled Products. “Innovative...

Heavy Engineering Corporation (HEC) here is all set to manufacture components for the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos. The country's biggest integrated engineering complex is in the final round of talks with the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and is likely to bag the order early this year, said B K Sharma, general manager (marketing) at HEC on Monday. HEC will build the aluminium chassis of the 10m-long supersonic cruise missile that can strike from air, sea and land to hit a target over 290km away. Sources said the company is also planning to build BrahMos's engine components at its sprawling facility on the fringes of the capital. A joint aerospace programme between India and Russia, BrahMos is a supersonic stealth cruise missile that has a flight altitude of...

Shandong Nanshan Aluminum Co. signed a strategic cooperation agreement with CSR Qingdao Sifang Locomotive Co. on January 5, it said in a statement filed to the Shanghai Stock Exchange yesterday. Under the agreement, both sides will cooperate in raw material and product supply, domestic and overseas market development, light aluminum alloy material technology and capital. Shandong Nanshan Aluminum Co. is a large, vertically integrated aluminum extrusion and flat-rolled product producer.

Surface finisher, Midland Impregnations, is now offering a subcontract service using a US technology that seals micro-porosity in castings and die-castings. The HVLV system from the American manufacturer, Godfrey & Wing Inc, is said by the manufacturers to offer space savings, unmatched impregnation performance, cost reduction and environmental gains. Chris Gilmore, president of Godfrey & Wing, said: “We are seeing the benefits of the system with manufacturers in a range of industries – from the automotive and military sectors to general engineering, foundries and die-casters – all of which, of course, are highly active in the UK.” He says the capabilities of the HVLV are shown in its effectiveness in sealing porous materials. Sealing results exceeding 99% on micro-porosity in aluminium...

Constellium N.V. today announced that it has completed its previously announced acquisition of Wise Metals Intermediate Holdings LLC (“Wise”), a private aluminum sheet producer located in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. With the closing of the acquisition, Constellium now has access to 450,000 metric tons (kt) of hot mill capacity from the widest strip mill in North America, reinforcing its position on the can market and positioning Constellium to continue to grow in the North American Body-in-White (BiW) market. “This acquisition is a key milestone for Constellium that will allow our Company to provide greater sustainable value to our customers globally,” commented Pierre Vareille, Chief Executive Officer of Constellium. “It enhances Constellium’s global footprint and offering by increasing the...

A 3.6 kg aluminium motorcycle helmet may not be the most practical protective headgear you will find, but it is definitely one of the finest specimens of CNC machine craftsmanship you will ever see. A CNC machine has carved out a gorgeous, metal helmet out of a 120-kg-block of aluminium, displaying the creative and flawless execution of a fairly intricate design. The helmet is not created for a practical use so there is no point debating on the matter but it does make a great decorative item for motorcycle enthusiasts but more importantly it is a great example of what a CNC machine is capable of doing. There is a lot of debate about the superiority between 3D printing and CNC machines. While 3D printing gets an obvious edge as far as intricate designs are concerned, the dimensions of the...