Ducati has unveiled the Desmo450 SM, a new production supermoto developed from its Desmo450 MX platform, featuring an aluminium twin-spar frame. This is designed to combine low weight, rigidity and strength. The motorcycle made its debut during World Ducati Week and is aimed at competition use. The Desmo450 SM uses the same aluminium frame architecture as the motocross model. Ducati says the frame has also been designed to allow a straighter intake route while maintaining the strength and rigidity needed for high-performance riding. The bike has a fuel capacity of 7.2 litres. The company has also focused on reducing weight in other areas. Its Bartubeless wheel system, for example, removes inner tubes and cuts rotating and unsprung mass by 1.2kg. The motorcycle also features a cast...
China’s aluminum door and window manufacturing sector includes a range of suppliers offering thermal-break systems, customized solutions, OEM/ODM production, and products for international building projects. A recent industry guide highlights Guangdong Dejiyoupin, Guangdong EEHE, Foshan CIVO, Sichuan Yazhixuan, and Sichuan Mingrenju, citing their production capabilities, product portfolios, project experience, customization services, and testing or certification coverage. The companies differ in their areas of focus. Dejiyoupin is highlighted for its production capacity and international certifications, while EEHE is noted for patents and a broad range of project solutions. CIVO focuses on factory-direct customization and climate-oriented systems, while Yazhixuan provides OEM/ODM...
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Each year the world’s biggest and most innovative camper manufacturers descend on Düsseldorf, Germany, to show the latest and greatest in vans, RVs, travel trailers, and more in the Düsseldorf Caravan show. Volkswagen is expected to debut a new camper at Düsseldorf which would create excitement among the campers. Düsseldorf show offers a platform to display never before seen concept designs that push the boundaries of what’s possible. The latest camper that will debut at the show is the Lume Traveler. Made in the Netherlands, this boxy travel trailer features a sleek aluminium shell broken up by a few windows and a side door. The sleek aluminium chassis works on keeping the body lighter so that the campers can accommodate more stuff inside. The most unique part of the Lume Traveler is...
According to the latest update by Shanghai Metals Market, China’s market of new energy vehicles (NEVs) again saw a growth in July as both output and sales surged from a year ago. In July, production of NEVs stood at 90,000 units, after increasing 53.6 per cent year-on-year and 5.5 per cent from the earlier month, as shown by the data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). Sales also rose 47.7 per cent year-on-year to stand at 84,000 units in July but inched down 0.9 per cent from June. However, China’s overall vehicle production and sales saw a decline on both month-on-month and year-on-year in July. Around 2.04 million unites of vehicles were produced China in the month of July, down 10.8 per cent from a month ago and 0.66 per cent from the corresponding period of...
UAE-based Ducab, a leading manufacturer of high-quality aluminium cables and cabling products, has been named one of the top brands in the UAE for the seventh consecutive year by the Superbrands organisation, an independent authority of branding excellence. In an industry with rapidly evolving requirements, Ducab is diversifying its product range to meet energy needs of the future, said a statement from the company. With six manufacturing facilities across the four sites in UAE, the company is well-positioned as a global leader in the development, design, manufacture, marketing and distribution of copper and aluminium wire and cable products providing end to end solutions for the energy, general construction, oil and gas, industrial, defence, transport, marine, mining and other specialty...
The 10 per cent tariffs that were imposed by U.S. President Trump’s administration on imports of aluminium and steel from July have already caused the prices to rise in the end –user segment. Automotive and packaging companies are constantly expressing concern over higher prices eating up on profits. The developments are having a substantial impact on Ford Motor Co.’s business. Jim Farley, Ford’s president of global markets said this while emphasising the fact that the company does intend to pass higher costs on to consumers. “The escalation of steel and aluminum prices is really significant,” Jim Farley, Ford’s president of global markets, said after a factory ceremony near Detroit to commemorate building the 10 millionth Mustang muscle car. “It’s a significant headwind for us. It’s...
According to a press update from the company on Wednesday, Germany's Trimet Aluminium has completed the sale of its automobile parts unit to China's Bohai Automotive Systems. Trimet decided to spin off its automobile aluminium products business in 2017. In December 2017, TRIMET and Bohai Automotive signed an agreement on Bohai Automotive’s purchase of the majority stake in TRIMET Automotive. Bohai Automotive Systems announced in March that it was negotiating with Trimet to buy a 75% stake in its auto parts unit for 61.5 million euros. The transaction completed all the closing conditions. The transaction took place via a German subsidiary and Bohai Automotive now holds 75 per cent shares in TRIMET Automotive Holding GmbH. Privately owned Trimet Automotive, along with its subsidiary plants...
According to the recent data, the global aluminium powders, pastes, and flakes market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.03% during the period 2018-2022. In fact, with the advancement in technology and growth in global economy, the aluminium powder industry has evolved extensively over the past few years. So to say, the increasing investments in infrastructure are significantly driving the demand of aluminium powder and flakes. The demand and use of aluminium nanopowders is also forecast to rise on the growing adoption of nanotechnology. The key players in the industry, including Czech Republic is expected to cash on these opportunities that abound the market during this period. The import of aluminium powder and flakes by the country is thus, estimated to grow this year. In 2017, the...
The data from the China Automobile Dealers Association showed that Chinese vehicle imports declined 87 per cent in June YoY to 15,000 vehicles as automakers delayed shipments before tariff cuts on foreign-made vehicles took effect in July. The data from the Association also showed that overall sales of imported vehicles during the first half of 2018 fell 22 per cent YoY to 451,971 vehicles. In May, China said it would steeply cut import tariffs for foreign-made automobiles and car parts to 15 per cent from 25 per cent effective July 1. But in July, after the implantation of U.S. tariffs on imported steel and aluminium, China raised tariffs on vehicles imported from the United States to 40 per cent as a retaliatory measure. Rising trade tensions with Washington affected the automobile...
Tesco in UK becomes the first supermarket to sell water in aluminium cans instead of plastic bottles. The retailer is now selling spring water in 500 ml aluminium cans at its 700 stores under the CanO Water brand. The brand was started two years ago in London with a sustainable vision. These are less harmful to the environment than plastic bottles because of infinite recyclability. Plastics can take hundreds of years to break down into ever smaller pieces. This infiltrates the food chain and affects the environment. Plastic can only be recycled five to ten times because the quality degrades with each cycle, while aluminium cans are ‘infinitely recyclable’ because it does not affect its purity. “Aluminium cans have the highest recycling rate of any product out there and a recycled can...
As Canada has imposed retaliatory import duties on U.S. aluminum product imports in the busy summer season, Canadian microbreweries are facing a shortage of beverage cans and higher costs leading to beer production cut to a certain extent, a Reuter report says. Though Canada is the world’s third biggest aluminium producer and they produce cans domestically, beer makers also rely on the import of more than 2 billion cans, mostly from USA. When Canada included cans in the list of products imported from USA to be imposed an import duty, some craft brewers received notices of higher prices due to the duties while others failed to procure their usual supply of aluminium cans. “It seems like no one has cans to sell,” said Steve Beauchesne, co-founder and chief executive of Beau’s Brewing Co in...
Recyclability of metal is one of the key factors that has been constantly driving the consumption of the metal cans in the market, including aluminium cans because this particular non-ferrous metal is nontoxic by nature and can be easily processed, handled and distributed. In 2017, the metal cans market was valued at US$46.35 billion and is expected to reach a value of US$ 56.38 billion by 2023 at a CAGR of 3.32 per cent. Germany, being one of the largest aluminium exporting countries, supplies a lion share of aluminium cans all over the world. But unfortunately, it has been noticed that over the two years the country’s aluminium cans export volume is incessantly decreasing. In 2016, Germany had exported a total volume of 95,543 tonnes of aluminium cans, while in 2017, the volume stood at...
Gujarat Alkalies and Chemicals (GACL) has commissioned its new poly aluminium chloride (PAC) plant with a capacity of 32,000 tonne per annum. This is second such plant of the company after the commissioning of it first plant at Dahej complex in 2007, with a capacity of 40,000 TPA, as told by GACL’s Managing Director Prem Kumar Gera. Gera added that there is heavy demand for PAC in India, which is primarily used in municipal and industrial water treatments, waste water treatments, separation of slurry in industrial processes, sizing in paper and pulp industry, decontamination of dyes in textile industry and sewage water treatments. Mr. P K Gera flagged off the first shipment from the new Poly Aluminium Chloride Plant from its Coelho Complex, Vadodara. The Company has taken initiatives to...
Shanxi province in China is about to set up a fund of RMB 4 billion which will be used for the development of the automobile industry. This action plan has been issued by the municipal government this week, according to Shanghai Metals Market. Each city in the province will receive around RMB 120 million for boosting 100,000 units of vehicles. Taxpayers who are identified as a high-tech enterprise will pay a lower rate of corporate tax, at 15%. Additional 30 per cent of allowance will be paid by the province, on top of the current national subsidy for replacing vehicles designated for use in the public sector with new-energy vehicles. Against every purchase of a locally-manufactured car or heavy truck that runs on clean fuels, buyers will get a subsidy of RMB 10,000, while against the...
The promising results and earnings outlook from Japan’s No. 3 automaker Honda Motor stands in stark in contrast to the bearish forecasts from several other automakers hurt by rising raw material costs due to additional US metal tariffs and possible higher duties on imported vehicles. Resisting the impact of US aluminium and steel tariffs, Honda could record a surprising jump in quarterly profits to their highest in more than a decade. The improvement in North American sales could be attributed to this positive result. About 7.7 per cent sales grew in North America and 3 per cent grew across the globe in Q1 FY2018-19 that drove Honda’s operating profit to US$ 2.69 billion, highest since early 2006. Honda Senior Managing Director Kohei Takeuchi said at an earnings briefing on Tuesday, July...
Galuminium Group, one of the leading companies in the aluminium sector in Guangzhou, China, has recently added a brand new product to its range, aiming to meet the needs of customers living overseas. It is an aluminium casement door this time with special wind resistance capability. Expressing the mighty pride, the head of International Marketing Department of Galuminium Group Kenny Ye said, “A common saying is that no one ever made a difference by being like everyone else. The same is true for a company. It should from time to time make an impact when launching new products. So this time we adopt the new technology to improve product's air-tightness and water-tightness and introduce the new Aluminium Casement Door." This newly-launched aluminium casement door is made of alloy and...
On Thursday, July 26, Nissan Motor Co. echoed Detroit’s concerns over material costs hike due to higher aluminium and steel tariffs. Increased prices of the metals on the face of heavy tariffs were the biggest drag on Nissan’s profitability in the first quarter of FY2018-19 ended on June 30. More than half of the US$396 million declined year-on-year in operating profit, while the net profit shrank 14 per cent to stand at US$ 1042 million, in contrast to US$ 1214 million in the last financial year. Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. also reported on Wednesday, July 25, that increased commodity prices led to a fall in their quarterly results by US$ 300 million, compared to year earlier. Nissan’s dip in profit could also be attributed to investors’ higher price bid for the metals in...
Donald Trump’s aluminium tariffs have already started showing colours in the end user segment. After a series of can makers, automakers and construction companies expressing concern over cost increase and possible price increase on consumers, now is the turn for Coca-Cola, one of the most iconic American beverage brands to announce a price rise in the domestic market to compensate for the tariffs on imported aluminium. On Thursday, Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey told The Wall Street Journal that the company will raise prices of its products on increasing costs for shipping and metal driven by duties of $50 billion on the metal imported from China. “There is some broad-based push on input costs that have kind of come in and affected ours and many other industries as well,” Quincey said....
After a meeting at the White House on July 25, US President Donald Trump and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker appeared to reach a deal to quell all the trade barriers between the two countries. Trump agreed to ease sweeping tariffs on the EU-assembled cars, while Jean-Claude intended to remove heavy retaliatory duties on the US exports. “We had a big day, very big,” said the US President standing alongside Jean-Claude in the White House rose garden, adding that they also discussed to resolve US tariffs on steel and aluminium – marking a step back from Trump’s signature import protections for American metal producers. Trump told reporters, “We agree today, first of all, to work together toward zero tariffs, zero, non-tariff barriers, and zero subsidies on non-auto...
Home appliance manufacturer Whirlpool, an early supporter of tariffs to protect US washing machines, said that US tariffs on aluminium and steel were raising sharply the costs of raw materials, contributing to a slump in second-quarter earnings, and shares fell 15 per cent to a two-year low. The Michigan-based washing machine maker could be forced to modify its current business practices, it said in a quarterly filing on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST), without giving details. Whirlpool said rising raw material costs hurt results in three out of four of its regional markets in the second quarter, including North America, Asia and its struggling Europe, Middle East and Africa division. The only region where it did not cite input-cost inflation was in Latin America, which faced its own problems in...
