A should-cost analysis of an aluminium tower furnace in India: Comparing the economics of LPG, PNG, and electric energy sources
In precision non-ferrous casting and high-volume die-casting operations, thermal energy conversion represents one of the largest controllable operating expenses. In modern aluminium foundries, where margins are squeezed by primary metal price fluctuations and stringent customer cost breakdowns, even a modest INR 1–2/kg variance in liquid metal melting cost can translate into tens of lakhs of rupees in annual cost differences. A rigorous, transparent should-cost benchmark is therefore essential for procurement teams, foundry managers and strategic sourcing leaders. This analysis examines a baseline should-cost model for a 1,000 kg/hour aluminium shaft or tower furnace in an industrial foundry. It compares liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), piped natural gas (PNG) and electric energy across...
Germany’s construction aluminium demand falls 12%, but 2027 recovery and recycling offer fresh growth prospects
Germany’s construction industry has endured several years of contraction, weighed down by elevated financing costs, expensive building materials and subdued residential investment. The downturn has also affected the country’s aluminium industry, with estimated construction-related aluminium consumption declining by around 12 per cent between 2022 and 2025. However, the outlook is beginning to change. With Germany’s construction industry projected to return to growth in 2026 and accelerate further in 2027, opportunities are emerging for aluminium suppliers across residential construction, transport infrastructure, energy networks and commercial developments. At the same time, efforts to strengthen closed-loop aluminium recycling in buildings could provide an additional avenue for growth....
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KRGS installs aluminium roller shutters at new Moorebank social club
<p>KRGS Doors has supplied and installed aluminium roller shutters at the new Brighton Lakes Recreation and Golf Club in Moorebank, NSW.<br /><br />Moorebank’s own premier social club, the new Brighton Golf Club, off Brickmakers Drive, is being transformed into the Brighton Lakes Recreation and Golf Club. On completion, the new social destination will feature indoor and outdoor eating areas, several function rooms and a brasserie, overlooking an 18-hole golf course.<br /><br />KRGS Doors worked in collaboration with James Clifford Construction to install a number of aluminium roller shutters at the club.</p>
Oman Cables' group net profit for H1 2016 declines 2% on the back of falling aluminium prices
<p>Oman Aluminium Processing Industries LLC (OAPIL), a subisdiary of Oman Cables posted lower sales and profit for the six-month period ended June 30, 2016 compared to the same period previous year owing to the falling aluminium prices during the period under review. The decline in sales revnues affected the group net profit significantly.<br /><br /><img style="vertical-align: middle;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/Oman_Cables20072016.jpg" alt="News" width="500" height="313" /> <br /><br />The Gulf based electrical cable company attributed the decrease in sales to the 20 per cent fall in prices of major raw materials. “The impact of the current economic situation on the growth of infrastructure in the markets where Oman Cables operates is being closely...
Matalco new US plant produces aluminium billets from scrap
<p>Canada’s Matalco Inc. has officially opened its new Lordstown, Ohio remelt and casting plant. Official inauguration ceremony was held during the month of June this year. The new secondary aluminium plant will produce aluminium billets from scrap. The full commissioning of the $100 million plant was successfully carried out during end-March and the facility has been producing aluminium billets starting April this year.<br /><br />According to vice president Robert Roscetti, the company had earlier set an output goal of nearly 90 million lb of billets for 2016. The production is expected to reach its full capacity in 2018, with output expected to surpass 300 million lb. The official statement released by the company recently had stated that the projected 90 million lb output of...
Alba bolsters business ties with local aluminium downstream companies
<p>Attuned to get closer to its local customers and service providers, Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), a world’s leading aluminium smelter, had an official delegation visiting TAHA International Corporation, Bahrain Recycling Plant (BRP) and Crown Industries on Sunday, July 17, 2016.<br /> <br />The delegation comprised of Alba’s Chief Financial Officer, Ali Al Baqali, along with Senior Manager Casthouse, A. Rasool Ahmed, Manager Procurement & Warehousing, Mustafa A. Rahman, and Trainee Casthouse’s Superintendent – Metal Management, Mahmood Hassan.<br /> <br />These visits aimed to enhance customer satisfaction, strengthen business ties as well as exchange knowledge in various fields while provide Alba with cost-effective and environment-friendly...
Chalco cuts aluminium prices in major markets for six consecutive days
<p>China Aluminum International Trading Co. (Chalco Trading) further cut aluminium prices in major markets today, marking its 6th consecutive day of cuts, it said on its WeChat. <br /><br />For details, please see the table below:</p> <p><img style="vertical-align: middle; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/Chalco20072016.jpg" alt="News" width="337" height="100" /><br />Note: Chalco Trading is a full subsidiary under Chalco responsible for alumina and aluminium sales.</p> <p><span style="border-radius: 2px; text-indent: 20px; width: auto; padding: 0px 4px 0px 0px; text-align: center; font: bold 11px/20px 'Helvetica Neue',Helvetica,sans-serif; color: #ffffff; background: #bd081c...
India aluminium scrap prices show almost flat; MCX aluminium inches down
India major aluminium scrap commodities prices showed almost a flat trend on Friday, while aluminium futures prices at Multi Commodity Exchange settled lower tracking after stronger than expected U.S. economic data after LME closed down 1.4 percent at $1,659 after hitting $1,703, the strongest since July 17 last year. The major aluminium scrap commodities remained flat on Scrap Register Price Index as on Friday. India's major scrap commodities like aluminium cable scrap, aluminium ingots, aluminium rod company, aluminium rod local, aluminium scrap 6063, aluminium scrap taint/tabor, aluminium sheet cutting, aluminium utensil scrap and aluminium wire scrap remained flat on Friday. The most active July aluminium contract on Multi Commodity Exchange settled slightly down by 0.58 per cent to...
Aluminum Association reports 4.2% rise in can stock (class) scrap receipts in June 2016
The Aluminum Association’s Index of new can stock (class) scrap receipts totaled 61.3 million pounds during June 2016, an increase of 4.2 per cent over the June 2015 total of 58.8 million pounds. Compared to the previous month, class scrap receipts rose 1.5 per cent over the May 2016 total of 60.4 million pounds. Year-to-date class scrap receipts through June 2016 totalled 348.8 million pounds, up 3.4 per cent over the 2015 year-to-date total of 337.5 million pounds.
Bauxite prices track higher, Chinese alumina prices track lower
CBIX rose 3.5 per cent (US$1.7/dmt) over the week, to close at US$49.4/dmt. Higher ViU-priced cargos originating from Guinea and Australia were offset marginally by lower ViU priced cargoes from Brazil and Malaysia, resulting in a net increase to the price. Guinean material is now consistently flowing through to the CBIX calculation, given the significant increase in volumes now being exported. Grade variations between sources in Guinea are evident, given the different regions of Guinea being mined for export (variations in grade between Guinean sources are compensated for in the CBIX calculation methodology). Malaysian FOB prices were quoted at US$26/dmt for unwashed material (CBIX equivalent US$38.5/dmt). Washed material is priced at approximately US$37/dmt FOB. Chinese domestic alumina...
Argentina to begin antidumping probe in Aluminium alloy wheel imports from China
Argentina decided to begin an antidumping probe into Aluminium alloy wheels imported from China, said the Trade Remedy and Investigation Bureau of China's Ministry of Commerce. The antidumping case comprise of products such as motor vehicles' Aluminium alloy wheels, excluding tires, with a hub diameter of not less than 355.6 mm (14 inches) and not greater than 457.2 mm (18 inches), as per the report. India had imposed antidumping duties of $1.37/kg on seven Chinese Aluminium alloy wheel producers, and $2.15/kg on other Aluminium alloy producers in January last year after completing two years of antidumping investigations. China Aluminium alloy wheel exports during the first five months of this year was of 322,900 mt, worth $1.506 billion and was down 0.2 per cent and 7.4 per cent year on...
Will recent meeting of major producers offer welcome rain for alumina prices? SMM reports
The China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association (CNIA) summoned domestic major alumina producers, including Chalco, Jinjiang Group, Shandong Xinfa Group, etc. for a meeting in Beijing last Thursday. Persistent declines in alumina prices might be the main reason why the meeting was held, SMM understood. Will the gathering give a boost to battered alumina prices? The meeting will do little to arrest price declines, unless meeting participants reach a consensus over joint production cuts or alumina stockpiling, SMM noted. SMM data showed weighted average price in domestic four major regions had fallen to 1,807 yuan/tonne as of last Thursday, June 14th.
Yunnan Aluminum to reverse loss in H1 2016
Yunnan Aluminum Co. expects itself to return to profit territory in the first half of this year, it said in a statement filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange today. The company sees a net profit of 50 million yuan attributable to shareholders of its listed company in H1 2016, a reversal from the loss of 84.03 million yuan in the same period last year. The company attributes the expected profit to market-based power mechanism, optimization in product portfolio, cost control in production and raw material purchases. Looking ahead at H2 2016, the company will focus on hydropower-aluminium-processing integrated business.
Expansion to boost aluminium aerosol can recycling in Germany
Germany's largest aerosol can recycler Respray, a division of Remondis, has modernised and expanded its facility at Bramsche. The company claims now to have the capacity to process up to 6500 tonnes of aerosol cans every year. Some 80 000 tonnes of aerosol cans are produced annually in Germany but only 10 per cent of these are professionally recycled, according to Remondis. Around 60 per cent end up at Respray. Remondis has invested ‘heavily’ in the facility where it uses HazPak (short for ‘hazardous packaging’) - a technology supplied by the Canadian manufacturer Eko Environmental. Old aerosol cans can be dangerous as they contain traces of propellant gases such as propane, butane and dimethyl ether. These are highly inflammable and can cause an explosion if they come into contact with...
AMTEK develops new pyrometer for aluminium industry
AMETEK Land has developed a new pyrometer that provides high accuracy and a three-in-one capability specifically for aluminium applications, including extrusion press exit, extrusion press quench zone, and aluminium strip mills. The SPOT AL EQS (SPOT Aluminium Extrusion, Quench and Strip) pyrometer is an extremely flexible instrument with pre-configured algorithms that make it especially suitable for use at the extruder press exit and quench position as well as at mill entry and exit positions in hot rolling mills. In addition, the pyrometer’s algorithms can be customised and tuned for bespoke applications and specific aluminium grades. This latest addition to the LAND range of SPOT pyrometers was specifically designed to work in low emissivity environments where regular pyrometers might...
Japan's Aluminium Association head sees metal price at $1,500-$1,700/T
Aluminium prices are likely to hover between $1,500 and $1,700 per tonne for the later half of this year as oversupply will cap further gains, Akio Hamaji, the new chairman of the Japan Aluminium Association said on Thursday. "With uncertainty over the European economy after Brexit, it is unlikely to see a strong pickup in global economy," Hamaji told a small group of reporters. "So I don't expect sharp gains in the metal prices," he said, adding aluminium supply is expected to exceed demand in the global market this year which will weigh on the market. Benchmark aluminium prices on the London Metal Exchange (LME) have gained 11 percent this year, confounding some analysts who had expected the market to be hit by overproduction and high levels of inventories. The benchmark stood at around...
SMM: Wait-and-see sentiment to prevail in SHFE aluminium market
SHFE 1609 aluminium will move at RMB 12,550-12,750/mt today, with strong wait-and-see sentiment. LME aluminium will hold above the 5-day moving average, with price range at USD 1,665-1,690/mt. In China’s spot aluminium market, spot discounts of RMB 0-10/mt and premiums of RMB 0-30/mt are expected over SHFE 1607 aluminium contract. Key macroeconomic indicators for base metal prices Market will eye US June PPI and last week’s initial jobless claims today, as well as policy decision for the BOE’s July meeting. US import & export price index was mild in June, meaning low possibility of improvement for US inflation in June. Annual rate of US PPI remained low in June. US initial jobless claims remained below 300,000 last week. The US Fed’s Beige Book showed positive outlook for overall US...
Aluminium price rebound is here to stay, says NALCO CMD
Aluminium is currently moving in the range of USD 1,620-1,650 per tonne range. In the first quarter of the current fiscal, aluminium price was average around USD 1,514 per tonne. In the second quarter, it climbed up to USD 1,576 per tonne average during that quarter. Right now in July, last 12 days, average is moving out to USD 1,623 per tonne. So, there is a little forming of the price of London Metal Exchange (LME) during this time. While talking about the current aluminium and alumina price scenario in an recent interview with a leading television channel, TK Chand, CMD of Nalco, said, this price movement is mainly because in second quarter, the consumption of aluminium metal was around 15.39 million tonnes and production was around 14.58 million tonnes, leaving a deficit of 0.8...
Kemet Corporation New (KEM) hits new 52-week high in July
Kemet Corporation New (KEM) hit a new 52-week high yesterday, reaching a peak of $3.18 after opening at $2.98 and closing at $3.17 for a move of 6.02 per cent. Kemet Corp is a manufacturer of capacitors. Its product offerings include tantalum capacitors, multilayer ceramic capacitors, film capacitors, electrolytic capacitors, paper capacitors and solid aluminium capacitors. Hitting a new 52-week high is a notable milestone for any company, and it can mean a trading opportunity on either the long or short side, depending on one's perspective. Some view a company hitting its highest price in a year as a sign of momentum and think it means it's time to buy in. Others, though, tend to interpret a new 52-week high as likely signalling the end of a strong run, with the stock peaking out before...
MSETCL plans for Aluminum Conductor Composite Core (ACCC) wires around India's Nashik
The Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company Limited (MSETCL) has planned for high ampacity power supply through cables having aluminium composite core around India’s Nashik city connecting seven of its 132 kv power stations to deliver quality power to the citizens. The decision follows major power outages in the city which has already taken off as a major business hub of the country. MSETCL has successfully tested the use of the high ampacity cables for transmission of 1,32,000 volt (132 kv) power lines between Eklahara (Nashik Thermal Power Station) and Ozhar sub-stations. After that, it has been updating its transmission lines using the technology. "The high ampacity cables will be able to withhold exta load and would not lead to such a situation (power failure)," a senior...
