HexaTech, Inc. has announced the immediate production release of its new 100 mm diameter single-crystal aluminum nitride (AlN) substrate, marking a significant step in the company's efforts to scale up manufacturing of the advanced semiconductor material. The launch builds on its earlier three-inch diameter substrate introduction and strengthens its product portfolio for commercial optoelectronic and high-power radio frequency (RF) applications. The company, which describes itself as the world's leading commercial supplier of single-crystal physical vapour transport (PVT)-grown AlN substrates, said the new product combines material performance with production scale and customer value. 100 mm launch marks another step in substrate development The latest product launch follows a focused...
Phinergy and electrical contractor Rosendin Electric have published a second white paper examining how aluminium-air generators (AAGs) could support data centre power needs beyond conventional backup systems. The paper outlines three potential uses, including providing power for AI and cloud facilities, increasing available grid capacity and supporting renewable microgrids. Titled “From Backup Power to Grid Enabler: Use Cases for Aluminum-Air Generator (AAG) in AI-Era Data Centers,” the paper compares aluminium-air generators with diesel generators and lithium-ion battery systems. The report comes amid growing pressure on electricity infrastructure from data centre expansion. In Northern Virginia, more than 9,000 backup diesel generators serve data centres, according to Virginia Mercury....
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Drinks can maker Rexam said it was on track to complete a merger with American packaging company Ball by the end of June, as it it unveiled flat annual profits. The FTSE 100 company made £362m in underlying pre-tax profits in 2015, an increase of 1pc on last year, driven by rising sales and higher volumes in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The company's strong growth in the Middle East was boosted by its recent acquisition of United Arab Can Manufacturing, while falling aluminium prices - the main raw material used in producing cans - also provided a helpful tailwind. However, restructuring charges and costs related to the forthcoming merger with Ball meant that actual pre-tax profits fell by 27pc to £250m. American-based drinks can manufacturer Ball is in the process of...
Glass & Aluminum + WinDoorEx Middle East opened its doors yesterday, and will be held till 20th February 2016 at the Cairo International Convention & Exhibition centre (CICC) in Cairo, Egypt. Glass & Aluminum + WinDoorEx Middle East is one of the largest trade fairs for windows, doors, facades, prefabricated components in the Middle East. At the fair the leading international manufacturers show their newest and most innovative products for the industry. The fair is a wonderful opportunity to make valuable business contacts with Egyptian and international experts and an ideal platform to showcase products and services on the market in the Middle East. Glass & Aluminum + WinDoorEx Middle East will probably be the base where lots of most important subjects will be talked about. This Trade...
Southside Brewing Company has produced its first ever canned Western pacific IPA, boosting the company’s sustainability credentials. The 330ml aluminium cans, manufactured at Rexam’s Malmö plant, are available in select regions and retail channels throughout Sweden. Tommy Eriksson, owner of Southside Brewing Company, said: “I’ve been working in the craft beer industry for over 26 years and seeing the first line of our canned IPA has been monumental. Sustainability is important to the Southside Brewing Company and it made sense to use aluminium, enabling us to recycle, reduce waste and do our bit to lower our carbon footprint. We hope the change will encourage other Swedish craft brewers to do the same and we would definitely recommend Rexam to help them do so.” Arjen van Zurk, marketing...
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) will have to revisit its decision to extend anti-dumping and countervailing duty orders on some curtainwall units imported from China. Last week, Judge Donald C. Pogue of the U.S. Court of International Trade (CIT) reprimanded the DOC for its March 2014 scope ruling that determined Yuanda’s unitized curtainwall units fall under orders on aluminium extrusions from China. Yuanda, Jango Curtain Wall Americas, Permasteelisa and their affiliates challenged the decision in the CIT, arguing that the scope ruling “is not in accordance with law, unsupported by substantial evidence, and arbitrary and capricious,” according to court documents. The United States, named as the defendant, opposed the motion, as did Architectural Glass & Aluminum Co., Walters & Wolf...
Drinks can manufacturers Ball Corp and Rexam Plc have begun the process of selling assets, potentially worth more than US$3 billion, to meet antitrust regulations ahead of their planned merger, several people familiar with the matter said. Both companies are expected to meet with representatives of buyout groups Blackstone , Apollo , CVC, Onex and Madison Dearborn, as well as with peers Silgan and Ardagh, before final bids are due in mid-March, the sources said. US-based Ball's planned £4.4-billion (US$6.4 billion) takeover of Britain's Rexam will merge the world's two largest beverage can makers by volume - which supply Coca-Cola Co and Anheuser-Busch InBev - and should improve efficiency and cut costs. However, the deal triggered concerns in the European Commission that it would drive...
Fletcher Building Limited announces it has reached agreement to create a 50-50 joint venture between its Fletcher Aluminium windows and doors business and NALCO. The new business will be jointly owned by Fletcher Building and NALCO, with each having an equal shareholding. Fletcher Aluminium and NALCO will each contribute all of their business assets to the new entity, including intellectual property, and all employees of the two businesses will transfer to the joint venture. Ron Holden, the current Managing Director of NALCO, will become Managing Director of the new entity. In the 18 months following formation of the joint venture, it is proposed the Fletcher Building manufacturing site in Auckland will close. Fletcher Building will be funding its share of the capital expenditure to...
Nokia and then Microsoft’s Lumia has so far been banking heavily on their low-end, low-cost devices to woo the mobile handset market. And while these devices often offered decent hardware and software specifications, they never shined in the design department. With its latest launch- Microsoft Lumia 650, the brand has finally come of age in terms of high-end designing. The 5-inch mobile handset now wears a “highly polished, diamond cut and anodized aluminium frame. Slated to go on sale in “select” European markets on Thursday, February 18, at “around” $199 before taxes and subsidies, the aluminium-frame Microsoft Lumia 650 scales at only 122 grams while measuring 6.9mm in depth. The age of awkwardly bulky Windows phones seems to be over, although obviously, Redmond’s “attention to every...
Shandong Nanshan Aluminum, a large Chinese vertically integrated aluminium processor, is aiming to become one of the global top ten aerospace aluminium materials suppliers, China Securities reported. The company had strategic cooperation with famous aircraft manufacturers, like Boeing and Airbus in 2015. Its aerospace materials industrial park has fully entered operations. The park features medium-thick plate, extruded products and forging products. Nanshan Aluminum will step up supply of mid- and high-end products, Chairman Cheng Rence said. Aluminium consumption in China’s rail transportation sector is expected to reach 220,000 tonnes in 2016. Nanshan Aluminum is developing aluminium alloy sheet used in high-speed trains. It is also developing automotive aluminum sheet, forgings and...
After news of Toyota’s recent supply chain troubles, so ably covered by my colleague Lisa Reisman last week, news from the US car industry, by contrast, couldn’t be better. General Motors reported $9.7 billion net income for 2015 as it was bolstered by buoyant US light-truck sales. Results for the fourth quarter more than tripled from $1.99 billion to $6.27 billion although, admittedly, benefiting from $4 billion in favorable special items. Even so, the underlying figures were also boosted by the strong sales for the core North American operations, where earnings before interest and tax adjusted for special items rose 25% to $2.77 billion, on revenue up 9.5% to $27.7 billion. The company said low fuel prices boosted sales of more profitable pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles. Sales...
Can maker Rexam has joined forces with Swedish craft beer maker Southside Brewing Company to produce its first ever canned line of Western Pacific IPA. The move from glass bottle to aluminium highlights the brewer’s dedication to sustainability and will enable it to recycle more, waste less and lower its carbon footprint. The 330ml cans, manufactured by Rexam at its plant in Malmö, will be available from this month in select regions and retail channels throughout Sweden, including Systembolaget. The permanent design, crafted straight onto can by Rexam design experts, showcases the Western Pacific brand’s Californian heritage; it uses unique brewing techniques and ingredients imported from the west coast of the US. Speaking about the partnership, Southside Brewing Company Tommy Eriksson...
National Aluminium Company (Nalco) Chairman and Managing Director Tapan Kumar Chand in his book ‘Aluminium: the strategic metal’ has called for extensive use of the light metal for building smart cities in India. Mr. Chand recently presented a copy of his newly published book to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Raj Bhavan, Bhubaneswar. There he said addressing the audience that aluminium was useful for strategic use to give a push to green movement reducing carbon footprint. He said aluminium was useful in the making of wagons to increase haulage capacity by three times, food, beverage and packaging sector, electrical and electronics and transport in making smart cities.
A Singapore SME is teaming up with an F1 engineering giant to make a carbon-fibre aluminium electric supercar called Dendrobium. With an initial investment of $10 million over the first two years, Vanda Electrics - a unit of family- owned Wong Fong Engineering Works - expects the two-door, two-seater hard-top named after an orchid to be ready for next year's Geneva Motor Show. Wong Fong says Vanda Electrics has already secured funding from Titan Capital, a United States-based lender. The $10 million will just be to get the first unit of the carbon-fibre aluminium car ready for the show, which will be held in March next year. Should production commence, "We know it will be in the excess of $150 million for land, factory, equipment and manpower", a Wong Fong spokesman says. "We are prepared...
