Week in Review: A brief overview from the downstream aluminium industry

The week has seen a few major happenings in the downstream aluminium industry. The industry has witnessed acquisitions and plant shutdown by some of the top players in the downstream industry. Let’s explore the top stories covering the downstream products vertical for the week that went by:

Hydro to sell its Romanian extrusion plant to Hammerer Aluminium Industries

Hydro announced that it signed an agreement with Austria-based Hammerer Aluminium Industries (HAI) for the sale of its extrusion plant located in Romania. The move is a part of the overall review in Extruded Solutions aiming to optimise and streamline the portfolio.

Hydro initiates restructuring; parts of foil production to close in Germany

Separately, Hydro decided to initiate a comprehensive restructuring program in its rolling business in a bid to reduce costs and improve profitability. This will lead to redundancy of up to 735 full time equivalents (FTEs). The restructuring, expected to cost around €160 million, includes the planned closure of parts of the foil production at Grevenbroich as well as efficiency measures across the organization.

“Our cost position in parts of our foil business is too high, mainly due to manning-intensive and manual production processes, and we are also facing strong competition in this market segment. As a consequence, we are planning to close our foil mainline,” said Einar Glomnes, Executive Vice President Rolled Products. 

Rolled Products will further strengthen its focus on growth markets, such as automotive and can business.

Aluminium billet inventories in China rise for third consecutive week

Shanghai Metals Market data showed that aluminium billet inventories rose for the third consecutive week on greater arrivals in Wuxi and Nanchang cities. Stocks of 6063 aluminium billet across five major consumption areas in China stood at 107,100 tonnes as of Thursday September 12, up some 1,700 tonnes from Thursday September 5.

Allison acquires aluminium transmission castings supplier

Allison Transmission Holdings Inc., the largest global manufacturer of medium-and heavy-duty fully automatic transmissions, acquired Walker Die Casting and C&R Tool and Engineering in a deal worth approximately $103 million. Walker Die Casting and C&R Tool and Engineering will be run as Allison Transmission plants.

Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials certified against ASI Chain of Custody Standard

After receiving the ASI Performance Standard Certification last month, Jiangsu Zhongji Lamination Materials Co., Ltd achieved Certification to the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative’s Chain of Custody for its aluminium foil production facility in Jiangyin City, China. The certification covers post-casthouse activities related to the company's aluminium foil production.