Europe’s recycled aluminium industry is an important component of the global secondary aluminium supply chain, with Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom (UK) representing key national markets. Production across the European region stood at nearly 6 million tonnes in 2023, supported by established scrap recovery systems, industrial recycling capacity and demand for recycled metal. Russia also contributes to the regional landscape through secondary aluminium production units concentrated in several industrial centres. According to AL Circle’s analysis in its report, “ World Recycled ALuminium Market Analysis Industry Forecast ”, the four countries present different market structures, from Germany’s substantial recycling capacity and Italy’s scrap-based production to the UK’s organised...
According to SMM survey statistics, the operating rate of the secondary aluminium alloy industry in September was 35.0 per cent, up 3.1 percentage points M-o-M but down 6.7 percentage points Y-o-Y. Industry production continued its recovery trend, but the overall operating level remained below the same period last year. On the demand side, September marked the traditional peak consumption season, with downstream orders recovering from August. End-use demand from automobiles and other sectors improved marginally, but the peak season effect has yet to fully materialise. According to CAAM data, automobile production in September was 2.99 million units, up 11.4 per cent M-o-M but down 8.7 per cent Y-o-Y. NEV production was 1.814 million units, up 12.2 per cent Y-o-Y. CAAM noted that China's...
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Metal recycling specialist Novelis has completed a £1.7m upgradation of its can recycling plant in Warrington. The global group says the investment will double the facility’s capacity to process contaminated drinks cans, enabling it to meet the growing demand for recycled aluminium. The new cleaning line for used drinks cans enhances the plant’s capacity to remove residual plastic and paper from contaminated bales of cans, prior to them being melted down and recycled. Brian McCallie, plant manager at the Warrington site, said: “This investment further strengthens our operations here and serves as an important step towards reaching Novelis’s global goal of 80% recycled content by 2020.”
Alcoa announced that its $21 million Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products casthouse expansion at its Barberton, Ohio plant is expected to cut in half the total amount of energy used to recycle aluminum for forged wheels, reducing greenhouse gases and increasing the overall efficiency and sustainability of the company's manufacturing process. The recycling facility, the first of its kind in North America, uses advanced technology to produce wheels from re-melted and scrap aluminum. Construction of the 50,000-square-foot facility began in July 2011. "Alcoa's casthouse brings 'green' technology and new manufacturing jobs to Northeast Ohio," said Tim Myers, President, Alcoa Wheel and Transportation Products. "Sustainability is integrated into Alcoa's business strategy, and this facility...
Anheuser-Busch is providing 51,744 cans of emergency drinking water for use by relief workers and residents affected by the tornado in Oklahoma City and its surrounding suburbs. Anheuser-Busch is working with the American Red Cross to get the water where it's most needed. Additionally, the company has made a $25,000 donation to the Red Cross to assist in their relief efforts. "Relief workers and people in the community are in need of fresh drinking water as they work to recover from the tornado, and this is one way Anheuser-Busch can help our friends and neighbors," said Peter Kraemer , vice president of Supply for Anheuser-Busch. Since 1988, Anheuser-Busch has donated more than 72 million cans of emergency drinking water following natural and other disasters. Helping communities cope...
Increased recycling could be the long term solution to managing some of the Cayman Islands’ waste management problems. While many politicians have focused on how to deal with the George Town dump, less has been said about how Mount Trashmore got so big in the first place. The Cayman Islands lags behind jurisdictions like the UK, US and Canada in its enforcement of recycling. Alberto Thompson, operations manager of JUNK Removal and Recycling, believes that if every household in the Cayman Islands were compelled to recycle, the amount of trash coming into the dump could be cut in half. The private sector firm collects aluminium, glass and plastic. Its clients, which include schools, supermarkets and stratas, pay a sponsorship fee to have their waste removed and recycled. That business model...
Aluminium rolling and recycling company Novelis has announced the opening of a new aluminium recycling and continuous casting line at its Pieve Emanuele facility in Milan, Italy. The €12 million (£10.1 million) expansion marks the company’s ‘largest single investment in Italy in the past decade’ and is reported to be a ‘key part’ of the firm’s drive to ‘enhance the competitiveness of its Italian operations’. Developed by Novelis PAE, a Novelis group company that provides premium casting and molten metal treatment solutions for aluminium producers around the world, the continuous casting equipment was implemented to enable Novelis to recycle aluminium scrap into ‘high quality-aluminium sheet’ for further processing at its operations in Italy and Germany. Erwin MayrSpeaking of the opening,...
Novelis Inc, the world's largest producer of rolled aluminum products, reported a quarterly profit on Tuesday, versus a year-earlier loss, boosted by stronger demand and better cost controls. The company, a unit of India's HindalCo Industries Ltd , said it was able to push through unexpected headwinds in the second half of fiscal 2013, which ended March 31, and will continue to move ahead with numerous expansion projects. "As expected, we saw a sequential recovery from our seasonally low third quarter ... driven by strong demand, good cost control and higher operating efficiencies," Chief Executive Phil Martens said in a statement. Net income attributable to common shareholders was $59 million in the fiscal fourth quarter ended March 31, compared with a loss of $107 million a year...
The government has imposed 2.5 per cent import duty on aluminium scraps. The measures were taken through two different notifications issued on Wednesday by the Finance Ministry. It did not give reasons for making changes except saying that it is in public interest. "In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 1962, the Central Government, being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby makes the following further amendments...," said the notification, imposing 2.5 per cent import duty on aluminium scraps.
Novelis Inc. plans to boost research and development staff by 40 percent as the biggest supplier of flat-rolled aluminum products to global carmakers seeks to increase recycled content in products used in cans and vehicles. Personnel including scientists and engineers at its research and development center located in Kennesaw, Georgia, will increase to about 140 people in the next two years from 100 at present, Jack Clark, chief technical officer of the Atlanta-based company, said in an interview yesterday in Seoul. The U.S. unit of Hindalco Industries Ltd., India’s second-biggest aluminum maker, is more than tripling recycling capacity by 2020 to meet increased demand and plans to make as much as 80 percent of its products from recycled metal by 2020, Derek Prichett, vice president at...
Repairs from one fire may have led to another at a Chesterfield plant. For the second time in little over a week, fire crews spent hours at the Aleris Aluminum Recycling Plant just south of Willis road near I-95. Nearly 30 people inside got out safely Friday morning. A worker called in the fire just before 9:30. A fire in the production tower prompted an early release for workers. Aluminum is usually made here but not Friday. Crews were welding metal and making repairs to damage from last week's fire. Embers landed on ductwork nearby causing a fire inside the furnace walls. You can't see the flames from the outside. The only thing crews could do was wait for the fire to subside. It finally did around lunchtime. "We just want to let everybody know that there's no danger right now to anyone...
International recycler Novelis has launched what it has said is the first independently certified, “high-recycled content” aluminium production. The firms can product, aluminium can body sheets guaranteed to contain at least 90% recycled content, is being offered to European and North American drinks packaging firms initially before being expected to go global. Once a standard drinks can has been completed companies can claim it is made from at least 70% recycled aluminium. The recycled content is certified by international standards company SCS Global Services. Environmental campaigner Jonathon Porritt, founder director of Forum for the Future, said: “This is a really exciting development. The benefits of using recycled rather than prime-based aluminium are well understood, and for...
Alongside an aggressive drive by the leading GCC nations to grow their share of the expansion global aluminium industry, the region is seeing an even more dramatic rise in demand for green aluminium. In 2012, the GCC accounted for nine percent of global aluminium production capacity, a figure that is set to increase dramatically to 13% by the end of 2013. In the Gulf, 80% of the aluminium stock not exported overseas is put to use within the construction sector. At the Gulf Extrusions plant, says general manager Modar Al Mekdad, 60% of its overall product goes to construction projects, with the quantities growing at a rate of 3-5% a year in the first quarter of 2013. Overall, the UAE is the source of nearly 47% of the region’s investment in the metal. However, the latest and perhaps the...
VHE has completed the fabrication and installation of a preheating furnace for the Rio Tinto Alcan smelter at Straumsvík in Iceland. The furnace, which is semi-automatic, is able to heat 15 tonnes of scrap to 200°C within 2 hours. At this temperature all water and many low-boiling point organics are fully removed. The oven is electrically heated and uses the recirculating air principle for best efficiency. The VHE preheating furnace is economical in use and is priced to offer an excellent return on investment, with a short pay-back period.
Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi announced that it has signed a long-term land rental agreement with UAE-based Cast Aluminium Industries estimated to be worth more than Dhs33 million. The mid-stream aluminium producer and recycler will now be allocated a 355,209 sq ft plot of land in Kizad’s aluminium cluster and will operate close to the zone’s anchor aluminium investor, Emirates Aluminium. CAI, whose clients include Dubal, Emal, Alba and Qatalum, expects to commence operations in Kizad in the third quarter of 2014. It aims to initially export 300 TEUs (containers) annually from the adjacent Khalifa Port. The company specialises in aluminium dross recycling and will be the first to represent “horizontal integration” in Kizad’s aluminium cluster. Khaled Salmeen, Kizad’s CEO and managing...
Weakening prices ended a three-day flat streak as the price of Chinese aluminum scrap fell 2.5 percent on Monday, April 22. The price of Chinese aluminum billet reached a thirty-day low after decreasing 1.7 percent. The cash price of Chinese aluminum saw little movement yesterday. The price of Chinese aluminum bar held steady. The cash price of primary Indian aluminum weakened by 1.4 percent. On the LME, the primary aluminum cash price fell 0.1 percent to $1,871 per metric ton. On the LME, the 3-month price of aluminum showed little movement on Monday, hovering around $1,900 per metric ton.
The US Aircraft Fleet Recycling Association has expanded its list of accredited recyclers by adding Minnesota-based Aircraft Demolition and Dutch player Aircraft End-of-Life Solutions. According to the association, the accreditations are based on its renewed Best Management Practices Guide dealing with recycling aircraft materials. AFRA currently offers two accreditations: one for disassembly of aircraft and the other for materials recycling. The association comprises 71 members in 11 countries, including Boeing Commercial Aircraft, Europe Aviation and Rolls Royce. Between them, these companies are said to recycle ‘up to 150 airplanes a year’ - or over 30 000 tonnes of aluminium. ‘We had thought that our activities were already at the standards in the BMP Guide but we found out that some...
The biggest mover on the weekly Aluminum MMI was the price of Chinese aluminum scrap, which saw a 3.9 percent increase. This comes on the heels of a 0.6 percent decline the week prior. Following a 1.2 percent increase in the week prior, the cash price of Chinese aluminum fell 1.4 percent last week. Chinese aluminum billet prices were off slightly, down about $15 per metric ton from a week ago. Chinese aluminum bar remained essentially flat from the previous week. The aluminum 3-month price fell 1.3 percent on the LME to $1,887 per metric ton after rising 1.9 percent the week before. Following a 1.8 percent increase in the week prior, the primary aluminum cash price fell 1.2 percent on the LME last week to $1,855 per metric ton. This past week, the Indian aluminum cash price kept quiet....
The price of Chinese aluminum scrap increased by 3.9 percent on Tuesday, April 16, making it the day’s biggest mover. The cash price of Chinese aluminum fell 0.6 percent. The price of Chinese aluminum billet fell 0.3 percent. The price of Chinese aluminum bar continues hovering in place for the fifth day in a row. The cash price of primary Indian aluminum is back up, rising by 2.6 percent yesterday. On the LME, the primary aluminum cash price declined 2.0 percent to $1,804 per metric ton. The aluminum 3-month price weakened by 1.8 percent on the LME, settling at $1,842 per metric ton.
US secondary aluminum producer Beck Aluminum Alloys has shut one of two furnaces at its Racine plant due to tight margins, a company source said Monday. The Beck source said the plant will operate only one of its furnaces until scrap spreads improve. The furnace has a capacity of 160,000 lbs/year. "The scrap is not there to operate it effectively and we are seeing some discounting," he said. "There is no reason to chase scrap and over pay and then discount the ingot sale." Both Spectro Alloys and Bermco last month said they would be shutting furnaces because of tight margins as well. At least two other smelters were reported to have taken capacity offline, but declined to go on record. The Platts A380 price was set Monday at $1.04-1.05/lb, while the Platts high-grade auto shreds...
