Germany and France share one of Europe’s busiest downstream aluminium corridors, and the metal flows in both directions. In the first seven months of 2026, aluminium flat rolled products (FRP), which cover aluminium plates, sheets and strips (HS code: 7606), as well as aluminium foil (HS code: 7607), crossed the border each way, amounting to a total of around USD 692 million. However, the bilateral trade flow is tilted towards Germany, which remains France’s largest FRP supplier. Nonetheless, the inter-dependence remains as the countries do exchange the same products but engage in cross-border trade of specialised high-value products and alloys, feeding the demand on either side. The trade figures for January–July 2026, as compiled from the International Trade Administration, highlight...
KAP Minerals and Cymat Technologies are exploring a partnership to produce scandium-aluminium master alloy in Ontario, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding. The partnership would use scandium oxide from KAP’s Kapuskasing critical minerals project and Cymat’s aluminium-processing technology to produce alloys for aerospace, defence and manufacturing applications. To know the global production, demand and consumption forecasts of aluminium extrusions, explore our report " The World of Aluminium Extrusions to 2035 " Scandium-aluminium alloys can improve strength, performance and weldability while reducing weight. The companies aim to use the proposed venture to establish a domestic supply chain, converting Canadian critical minerals into value-added industrial materials....
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Leading flexible packaging specialist, KM Packaging Services Ltd, is celebrating 15 years since the development of its revolutionary lidding film technology for smooth wall aluminium trays, which is now one of the most popular packaging solutions used by the food manufacturing industry. Fuelled by the growth in the convenience food market and increase in the uptake of foil trays, KM Packaging's cutting edge film technology has demonstrated its superior seal performance and made it the perfect lidding solution for today's smooth wall aluminium foil containers. KM Packaging has combined its food processing knowledge and technical raw material expertise to develop a sophisticated blend of chemical polymers, which has resulted in a range films that are able to not only provide better, more...
Austrian metals group AMAG said solid orders at its casting and rolling divisions should help it report satisfactory second-half results, despite lower aluminium prices that hit earnings in the first half. AMAG said on Friday first-half earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell 12 percent to 72.2 million euros ($87.8 million) as high raw materials costs and the lower aluminium price hit earnings in its metal division. "The price of aluminium being lower in comparison to the prior year puts a burden on the metal division, causing its profit contribution to go down despite full capacity utilisation," it added in its outlook. But a steady performance at the casting and rolling businesses should keep capacity utilisation and earnings there high in the second semester,...
The Virginia Economic Development Partnership announced the acceptance of Neuman Aluminium Impact Extrusion of Waynesboro into its two-year Virginia Leaders in Export Trade program. Launched in January 2002, the VALET program assists exporters in the Commonwealth that have firmly established domestic operations and are committed to international exporting as an expansion strategy. Currently, VALET has 50 companies as participants. New participants in the program have access to $15,000 in reimbursement funds from the Commonwealth. The program provides participating companies assistance from a team of experienced international service providers to help them meet their international goals. Private sector service providers such as attorneys, web designers, bankers, translators and freight...
Engineering and construction company Fluor Corporation has won contracts worth more than $1 billion for an aluminum plant in Saudi Arabia and a highway project in the US, the company said on Wednesday. The company was awarded a contract from Ma'aden and Alcoa to provide engineering, procurement and construction management services for an automotive sheet facility in Ras Al-Khair, Saudi Arabia. Fluor added $337 million to its backlog of contracted work in the second quarter. The company's scope of work includes designing, constructing and commissioning the plant, which will have the capability to produce a range of products suitable for further downstream manufacturing in the aluminum complex. These products include automotive heat-treated and non-heat-treated sheet, building and...
Norwegian aluminium firm Norsk Hydro has agreed to sell its Portalex extrusion plant in Cacem, Portugal, to Germany's Bavaria Industriekapital AG for an undisclosed sum, the company said on Wednesday. The transaction is expected to close on Aug. 31, Hydro said, adding that the plant, which handles extrusion and product finishing, employs about 170 people. "Portalex, as the company is known in the market, has felt the downturn in the Portuguese market and struggled over the last years," Hydro said.
According to the Global and Chinese Automotive Aluminum Wheel Industry Report, released by Research and Markets, the Chinese wheel export reached US$4.382 billion in 2011. Steel wheels accounted to US$696 million with a 40% growth and aluminum wheels reached US$3.886 billion with a 24.8% increase, thus setting new records in the industry. For aluminum wheel manufacturers in China, 2011 has been a profitable year with their major export destinations being the UAE, Germany, Russia and the U.S. Among the markets, U.S. occupied approximately half of the overall shares. The US automotive sector experienced strong recovery, especially in heavy truck and light truck, which needed large-diameter wheel hubs with price higher than passenger cars. The increasing oil price is promoting the recovery...
Bahrain-based Midal Cables Ltd has submitted a proposal to set up an aluminium conductor and rod manufacturing unit at Angul at an investment of Rs 250-Rs 300 crore. The overseas investor is keen to set up this facility at the aluminium downstream and ancillary products park at Angul to be developed jointly by the state's nodal land acquisition agency - Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation of Odisha (Idco) and navratna firm National Alunminium Company (Nalco). The aluminium park was to be set up as a 50:50 joint venture between Idco and Nalco on 204 acres of land close to the aluminium major's smelting facility at a cost of Rs 75 crore. A special purpose vehicle (SPV) called Angul Aluminium Park Private Ltd (AAPPL) was formed by Idco and Nalco for the purpose. Midal Cables...
Continuing the move of craft beer to aluminum cans, Sky High Rye from Arcadia Ales has launched its West Coast-style Pale Ale in 12 oz. cans from Rexam. Sky High Rye is brewed with 80 percent English barley malt and 20 percent rye malt. It boasts a floral aroma of resinous hops with contributing notes of lemons, peaches and pine needles, and is anchored by the sweet, malty flavor of toffee and freshly-baked pumpernickel bread. It is six percent alcohol by volume. "Sky High Rye has been an excellent complement to our stable of beers," said Tim Surprise, owner, Arcadia Brewing Co. "The label features really beautiful illustrations, and Rexam has successfully transferred that beauty onto their can. This beer in cans will provide our customers with a year-round rye pale ale that will not...
The Aluminum Association is touting the intensive use of its metal for the many benefits it offers consumers and the environment. According to the association’s Aluminum Transportation Group, aluminum use is at all-time-high and currently stands as the number two material used to make today’s vehicles. According to auto manufacturers, that is expected to double by 2025. The high-strength, low weight metal helps vehicles be economical, durable, high performing and safe, translating into benefits such as fewer emissions, reduced usage of fuel or other energy sources used for propulsion (which, in turn saves consumers money at the pumps), and improved performance (acceleration, braking, handling, etc.) Among the marques whose vehicles are aluminum intensive, are Audi and Land Rover, to name...
HULAMIN , a maker of rolled and extruded aluminium products, reported a "normalised" headline earnings loss of R8m for the six months to the end of June, from a R45m profit over the same period last year. This came after one of SA’s largest beneficiated metals producers lost about 25000 tons of rolled-product production over 46 days at its Camps Drift hot mill in KwaZulu-Natal, when the main motor seized in May. Sales of rolled products, which made up 90% of production, fell 9% to an annualised 189000 tons in the first half of the year as group revenue fell 7%. This compared with 208000 tons annualised in the same period last year. "We’re disappointed that after achieving record production volumes of 219000 tons annualised in the first four months, the downtime during the repair of the...
Japan's shipments of secondary aluminum alloy for diecast automotive components in June were 39,654 mt, up 14% year on year amid stable automotive output, Japan Aluminum Alloy Refiners Association said Monday. The June shipments rose from May's 37,622 mt due to more operating days during the month. Japan's automotive production in June was 769,251 vehicles, up 23.9% year on year, and up 14.4% from a month earlier, according to Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association. "June was not too bad as domestic smelters were able to run their plants as scheduled. But they have concerns about demand possibly falling from October, due to the end of government car purchase subsidy program," said Shoji Matsunaga, the association secretary general. The subsidy program, designed to encourage spread of...
In this suburb just west of Detroit, Ford Motor Co. (F) is working on one of the biggest gambles in its 108-year history: a pickup truck with a largely aluminum body. The radical redesign will help meet tougher federal fuel-economy targets now starting to have wide-ranging effects on Detroit's auto makers. But Ford will have to overcome a host of manufacturing obstacles, plus convince die-hard pickup buyers that aluminum is as tough as steel. Ford is hoping the switch to the lighter metal will cut the weight of its F-150 truck by about 700 pounds, according to Ford executives familiar with the company's plans. That is roughly a 15% reduction for the F-150, which is the company's most popular pickup in the U.S., favored by farmers and suburbanites alike. Such a reduction would enable...
GSM Aluminium has selected IRIS Exchequer accounts software to maintain greater control of their stock and finances. GSM Aluminium Ltd. is a solution driven supplier of bespoke extruded, drawn & fabricated aluminium profiles. Established in Yorkshire since 1992, they provide a wide range of services including aluminium extrusion, cutting, machining, finishing and sub-assembly. They have expertise in a variety of sectors, from automotive, transportation and aircraft, to AV equipment, electrical and military industries. Furthermore, they also offer design and prototype services to meet their clients’ needs and individual requirements. GSM Aluminium recently selected IRIS Exchequer accounting software to maintain effective control of their stock at all times. IRIS Exchequer gives UK...
SCX Special Projects have created a highly complex crane automation system for an Aluminium Rolling Mill in Oman, designed to process around half a million tonnes of rolled aluminium product a year. Molten aluminium brought in from the adjacent smelting plant is processed into coils, which are then distributed around the plant by 12 Street Cranes ranging from 7.5 tonnes to 80 tonnes SWL. The hoists, end carriages and control panels have already been shipped, the bridge steelwork has been sourced locally, and the final piece of the puzzle, SCX Special Projects' complex automation system, is about to be sent out to the Middle East for installation. SCX Special Projects are automating two of the plant's 25 tonne cranes that will take hot coils into and out of storage, as well as between a...
Alcoa's Reynobond Aluminum Composite Material (ACM) was used to achieve the dramatic sloping facade of the award-winning Seidman Cancer Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The Center is one of only 12 freestanding cancer hospitals in the nation designated by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center. Designed by St. Louis-based architectural firm Cannon Design, the 375,000 square-foot, 10-story hospital features 59,000 square feet of Reynobond Natural Brushed ACM on the exterior and interior building fascia, soffits and parapet panels. The narrow site allocated for the hospital virtually dictated that the hospital take on the form of a thick rectangular box. To incorporate large lobbies and treatment areas on the lower floors, the architects flared the west facade outward at...
Specialty aluminum products Kaiser Aluminum Corp's second-quarter results beat market expectations on strong demand from the aerospace and automotive sectors. Net income rose to $21 million, or $1.09 per share, from $4 million, or 21 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, the company earned $1.06 per share. Sales at the Foothill Ranch, California-based company climbed 2 percent to $345 million. Analysts on average had expected a profit of 79 cents per share on revenue of $339.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company realized 5 percent higher prices in the quarter, while shipments rose 1.4 percent. "We continue to be optimistic regarding the outlook for our aerospace and automotive applications," Chief Executive Jack Hockema said in a statement....
Maan Aluminium Ltd has successfully commissioned a new 1320 MT Extrusion press alongwith a modern 10 MT foundry and Hot Top Casting Machine at an overall cost of Rs. 10 Crores thereby increasing the Aluminium Extrusion capacity to 9000 MT per annum. The Maan Aluminium Ltd stock closed the day at Rs.30, down by Rs.1.40 or 4.46%. The stock hit an intraday high of Rs.32.20 and low of Rs.30. The total traded quantity was 51 compared to 2 week average of 245.
Noranda Aluminum Holding Corporation announced plans to move forward on two capital projects--a $45 million investment to build a new rod mill and an $11 million investment to further expand harbor capacity at Port Rhodes in Discovery Bay, Jamaica. "The new rod mill and the port expansion project are attractive to us because they provide avenues for revenue growth and increased productivity and because their value-creation is largely independent from LME aluminum prices," said Layle K. (Kip) Smith, Noranda's President and Chief Executive Officer. "Redraw rod has been one of our strongest primary aluminum products in recent periods, and we expect continued growth in this product. The opportunity to further expand harbor capacity in Port Rhodes represents not only a value-creating...
