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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Ford Motor Co., on a hiring spree in advance of next year’s labour contract negotiations, said it’s adding 850 workers at its Dearborn, Michigan, manufacturing site to help make the new aluminium-bodied F-150 pickup. “These new jobs will help meet anticipated customer demand,” Joe Hinrichs, Ford’s president of the Americas, said in an announcement at the plant, also known as the Rouge, where Henry Ford built a sprawling industrial complex almost a century ago. “Combining salaried and hourly positions, Ford has hired more than 23,000 employees since 2011.” The new jobs bring Ford’s hourly hiring total to more than 14,000 since 2011, exceeding a pledge it made three years ago to the United Auto Workers (UAW) union that it would recruit 12,000 by 2015. Last month, Ford said it would hire...
Continental, an international automotive supplier showcased the world premiere of its new water-cooled turbocharger which features an aluminium turbine at the ongoing 8th International Suppliers Fair (IZB) at Germany running from October 14-16. The most prominent feature of this new aluminum turbocharger is its optimized response behavior while its lightweight structure helps the automotive industry to achieve those steep targets regarding consumption and emission. These turbochargers are 30 percent lighter than the conventional one weighing at only 1.3 kg. The water cooling system adds two more benefits to its light weight. Firstly, it becomes much easier to protect the neighboring components from the heat and secondly the thermal load on the catalytic converter is a lot less with the...
New data from the European Aluminium Association (EAA) predicts a bright future for aluminium in the European market, driven primarily by thriving demand for its applications in transport. End-use demand for aluminium in Europe will almost double in the coming decades, from 12 million tonnes per year today to a staggering 20 million tonnes by 2050. This is mainly a result of aluminium’s growing use in transport, which has almost tripled since the 1990s. Indeed the European market is expected to grow from around 3.8 million tonnes per year (mt/y) today to 7 million tonnes in 2050, with the average use of aluminium per European citizen rising by nearly 64% to 36kg by 2050. On the occasion of the Aluminium 2014 Fair (7-9 October, Düsseldorf), Director-General of the European Aluminium...
Ohio-based Aleris International said Wednesday it will close its aluminum finishing plant in Decatur just a few months after acquiring the business in a $110 million cash deal. Nichols Aluminum, which began as Decatur Aluminum Corp. in the late 1950s and now has 95 employees, will shut down during the next few months. However, Aleris spokesman Jason Saragian did not give a specific timeline for the closure. "Aleris decided to discontinue operations at its facility in Decatur, Alabama, when we determined that our operations could be streamlined to serve our customers more efficiently by moving production to other facilities within our U.S. operations," he told AL.com. The Decatur plant on 2001 Alabama 20 West is an aluminum finishing operation that makes coated aluminum primarily for the...
Zhejiang Jihong Packaging Co. is scheduled to begin trials on $1 billion, 2 billion units/yr beverage can facility in Zhejiang in late May 2015, local media reported on October 11. The beverage can manufacturer has placed orders for advanced production lines from abroad that are capable of producing 3,000 cans per minute. A source from the company said aluminum can demand in China grew at 20% annual pace to hit nearly 20 billion units last year, and sees great market potential for the product, it added.
Sapa’s ZnCoatRT is a new zinc-coating corrosion protection technology for round aluminium tube. It can be used for all heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration applications. The protection from the zinc coating in ZnCoatRT provides the tube with a 300 percent improvement in lifetime over equivalent bare tube. This substantial improvement has been accomplished without affecting the heat transfer properties of the system, making ZnCoatRT aluminium tubing the true “drop in” replacement for copper tubing. Aluminium tubing for HVACR applicationsDeveloped in-house by Sapa, the new process gives a smooth tube surface which allows for easy lacing of the heat exchanger. Higher COP Heat exchangers made with ZnCoatRT tubing will deliver a higher coefficient of performance (COP) over...
China Zenix Auto International Limited ZX, +0.00% ("Zenix Auto" or "the Company"), the largest commercial vehicle wheel manufacturer in China in both the aftermarket and OEM market by sales volume, announced today that the Company has supplied its premium aluminum wheels for new heavy-duty trucks produced by CIMC-Chery Auto's joint venture, C&C Trucks, for an export order. C&C Trucks is a joint venture between China International Marine Containers Group Ltd. ("CIMC") and Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. ("Chery Auto") to produce a variety of premium trucks including heavy-duty road tractors, tippers and mixers, among other truck models. CIMC is a world leading equipment and solution provider in the logistics and energy industries with RMB32.0 billion in revenue for the first half of 2014. CIMC...
After negative news on coal blocks, bauxite mining, etc, Hindalco’s investors have something to cheer about. The performance, as well as estimates, for US-based Alcoa for the September quarter means Hindalco’s international subsidiary (Novelis) could also post better than expected earnings for the quarter. Also, the demand outlook and aluminium realisations are likely to remain firm. This boosts prospects of Hindalco on the profitability front. The company has seen concerns on profitability erode about 25 per cent of its stock value since it stood at a 52-week high of Rs 198.70 on July 25. Though off from recent highs, aluminium prices have continued to improve consistently, owing to closure of some smelters, as base metal prices became unviable. Demand, too, is holding and the...
Rexam, a leading global beverage can maker, has collaborated with brewing giant SABMiller, to produce a range of new designs for the non-alcoholic beer brand, Birell. The cans benefit from Rexam's value added thermochromic inks and matt over varnish. The thermochromic inks change colour when the beverage reaches the ideal temperature for consumption. Whilst the matt over varnish adds a soft finish, reinforcing Birell’s premium brand positioning. Commenting on the partnership with Rexam, Petr Kouble, Brand Manager of Birell says, "Product differentiation is key for Birell and we knew we could rely on our established relationship with Rexam to deliver. We worked together to develop a creative range of new designs that will stand out in a competitive market place and that our customers will...
Aluminium 2014 in Düsseldorf attracted a record number of visitors, and so did Sapa. “International interest in our aluminium solutions is growing,” says Svein Tore Holsether. Sapa brought a local feel to its international presence at the aluminium trade fair Aluminium 2014, with sales and technical staff representing more than a dozen nationalities meeting visitors at the company’s stand. Corporate management was also on hand to participate in customer meetings, including Holsether, Sapa’s President & CEO. The theme of the stand was Global profile, local vision. Impressive interest in aluminium solutions Aluminium 2014 drew some 24,300 visitors over the course of the three-day event. This was 13 percent more than the 2012 exhibition. And Sapa enjoyed its share of the growth. “We had both...
National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) scientist, Manmohan Goel has won the young scientist award from the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for his work on use of an indigenous light weight material (aluminium foam) to develop blast resistant buildings. Goel told TOI that the material was developed by a group of scientists at the CSIR-Advanced Materials and Processes Research Institute (AMPRI), Bhopal including him. "I have not developed the material but I have proved its use in developing blast resistant buildings. My main work for which I got the award is on 'blast response of structures and its mitigation using advanced light weight materials'. The material has very low density of 0.3g/cm3. I successfully tested the material in both a real...
New research at the University of Auckland developing retrofit technology for the production of aluminium would be the first in the world to allow the industry to more easily regulate electricity use. Professor Mark Taylor and Dr Golbon Zakeri from the University’s Faculty of Engineering will present the research in a public lecture tomorrow night as part of the 2014 Vice-Chancellor’s Lecture Series on Renewable Energy. Called Shell Heat Exchangers, the innovative technology is currently being tested in Germany and is designed to fit around the outside of the electrolysis cells which produce aluminium. The cells need to maintain molten electrolyte at a temperature of 950degC. But cells lose energy as heat during the production process which, in the aluminium industry, is a continuous...
Processing fees for A356 aluminum alloy in China are expected to fall further on weak demand in October, Shanghai Metals Market foresees. Demand for A356 aluminum alloy – the main ingredient in wheel rim manufacturing – will be dampened by marked slowdown in automobile production and sales in China. Chances are slim that A356 aluminum alloy supply will decrease. The resultant oversupply will send processing fees down from September’s 700 yuan ($ 114) per tonne. A356 aluminum alloy output at the Chinese producers surveyed by SMM dropped from August to 111,800 tonnes in September. The average operating rate also dipped 1.36% month-on-month to 65.76%, SMM survey showed.
Alcoa, a global leader in lightweight, high-performance metals, has produced the world’s largest single-piece forged aluminum hull for combat vehicles to improve troop protection as part of a joint Alcoa-US Army initiative launched last year. Announced in Washington, DC at the Association of the US Army Annual Meeting—the largest landpower expo in North America—Alcoa manufactured the single-piece part, which was co-designed by Alcoa and the US Army Research Laboratory, with the goal of replacing today’s assembled hulls. Based on early modeling and simulation, single-piece underbody structures could provide two times better protection against blasts—such as those caused by Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs)—than traditional hulls, primarily by eliminating welded seams. In addition to...
Aleris announced today that it is now offering a new 7017 aluminum alloy in North America for commercial plate and defense end-uses. After extensive review and testing of Aleris 7017, the United States Army Research Lab (USARL) has issued MIL-DTL-32505 for use in armor applications. "7017 has a unique combination of properties making it ideal for the most advanced armor solutions," said Lawrence Kramer, global defense field engineer at Aleris. "These include high strength, weldability and corrosion resistance. This alloy is currently utilized in Europe and Asia on combat vehicles to achieve superior ballistic protection." The weld compatibility of the new alloy gives great flexibility to armored vehicle designers, enabling them to incorporate different design characteristics. The optimum...
Novelis, the world leader in aluminium rolling and recycling, today announced price increases on its pre-anodized aluminium sheet products. The 10-15 percent price increase will go into effect on January 1, 2015 on all new orders not covered by existing supply agreements. This increase is due to the recently announced processing cost increase of our continuous anodizing partner, Coil S.A. “Overall demand of our premium pre-anodized product range remains strong across the globe,” said Erwin Mayr, Senior Vice President, Novelis and President, Novelis Europe. “The price adjustment reflects the increase in our production costs combined with tighter rolling capacities throughout the industry.” Novelis produces specialized aluminium products to meet exacting requirements of the construction...
The European Union is investigating whether they need to renew the import duties imposed on the Chinese and Brazilian aluminium-foil exporters making it as high as 30 percent on companies like the Companhia Brasileira de Aluminio and Shanghai-based Alcoa Aluminium Products Co. The tariffs are currently 17.6 percent against Brazil and ranges between 6.4 and 30 percent against China which varies according to the exporter, even Armenia is under the imposition with 13.4 percent all of were due to lapse on Tuesday. The review will revel whether the cancellation of duties will revive the issue of dumpling faced from these manufacturing countries. The decision to review these cases originates from a request put forth by a group of companies on June 30 which includes Alcomet, Symetal, Eurofoil...
According to Alcoa yearly report their projected aerospace sales growth is a healthy 8 to 9 percent thanks to growing demands in both large commercial aircraft and regional jets. They have even revised their global automotive production growth for 2014 from a previous estimation of 1-4 percent to 2-4 percent in the second quarter. Growth in global packaging sales and global building and construction sales remained constant at 2-3 percent and 4-6 percent respectively in 2014. The projected decline in the industrial gas turbine market of 8-12 percent also remained unchanged for the year. The company increased its estimate for production growth in the commercial transportation market in North America from a previous range of 10-14 percent to a revised range of 16-20 percent in the second...
