Metal Asia April 2012 Issue

A Complete Metal Magazine

SPECIAL FEATURE

The Evolution of Aluminium Rolling and Extrusion Technology
Rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through a pair of rolls. The temperature of the metal classifies the rolling process as Hot Rolling (HR) or Cold Rolling (CR). If the temperature of the rolled metal is above its recrystallization temperature, it is termed hot rolling; the process is called cold rolling if the temperature is below recrystallization.

COMMENT

Indian Bauxite Mining Industry: An Analysis
Bauxite is an essential ore of aluminium, as it has the highest content of the base metal. It is also an essential ore for refractory and chemical industries. Bauxite is mainly used in preparation of aluminium, which is an important non-ferrous metal used in several modern industries. India has a significant amount of bauxite reserves to meet both domestic and export demand.

NATIONAL TRENDS

• ABB to invest Rs. 250 crore to expand power products manufacturing base in India

  ABB, the leading power and automation technology group, will invest around Rs. 250 crore to build new facilities in India to manufacture high-voltage power products and transformers. The expansion is part of ABB’s strategy to develop, manufacture and market products that meet the needs of Indian customers, as well as serving as an export hub.

• Aditya Aluminium plans Rs. 10k cr expansion plan

  Aditya Aluminium Limited, a unit of AV Birla group company Hindalco Industries, has planned Rs. 10,000 cr expansion plan to ramp up capacity of its aluminium smelter and captive power plant proposed at Jharsuguda in western Odisha.

• Hindalco’s alumina refinery to begin output by December

  The Utkal Alumina project, a 1.5 million tonne per annum alumina refinery plant being setup by Hindalco Industries at Kashipur in south Odisha’s Rayagada district, is set to commence production by December this year. The plant is expected to begin its trial production in November.

• HCL to raise $250 mln from overseas

  State-owned Hindustan Copper Limited (HCL) is planning to raise $250 million (Rs. 1,250 crore) in the current quarter through overseas borrowings to part-finance its expansion activities. The company will raise $250 million through external commercial borrowings (ECB) route, and this is expected to complete by the end of this quarter.

• NALCO achieves highest-ever Bauxite & Alumina output

  National Aluminium Company Ltd. (NALCO) has reported excellent results in terms of bauxite and alumina production for the year 2011-12.

• Nalco Foundation pays Rs. 2 crore advance for ITI in Damanjodi

  Nalco Foundation, the CSR arm of National Aluminium Company Limited, has decided to sponsor an Industrial Training Institute (ITI) to be established at Marichamal in tribal-dominated Damanjodi of Koraput district, at an estimated cost of Rs. 4.08 crore.

INTERNATIONAL TRENDS

• VHEs Stub Saw for Anode Stubs provides efficient solution for Aluminium Smelters

  With increasing automation, smelters have looked for ways to replace environmentally unfriendly gas cutting, at the same time eliminating the HES concerns of noise and hot metal. At some rodding plants, rods are unhooked from the overhead conveyor and stubs are cut using mechanical hacksaws or circular saws, a lengthy process.

• Alcoa to curtail alumina output

  Alcoa, the world's leading producer of primary and fabricated aluminium, said it will cut refining capacity to avoid aggravating alumina oversupply in the Atlantic region and to enhance the efficiency of its refining system.

• Outotec provides flotation technology for Kennecott Utah Copper concentrator in the U.S.

  Outotec has signed a contract with Kennecott Utah Copper to supply 30 TankCell® e300 flotation cells, with an option for an additional 10 cells for retrofit of the company’s Copperton Concentrator.

• Chalco to raise RMB8bn for expansion projects

  China’s leading aluminium producer, Aluminium Corporation of China Limited (Chalco), is planning a share issue to raise RMB8 billion (US$1.3 billion) to fund further development and expansion projects.

• Novelis to sell aluminium foil plants in Europe

  Novelis Inc., the U.S. unit of India’s Hindalco Industries Ltd., is selling three aluminium foil-manufacturing plants in Europe to focus on premium product markets such as beverage cans and automobiles. The buyer is American Industrial Acquisition Corp. (AIAC).

IN FOCUS

• Hindalco – Pioneer in Aluminium and Copper Industry

  Hindalco Industries Limited, stands today as the pioneer in the sectors of aluminium and copper. Being the metals flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, it is the largest aluminium rolling company in the globe and one of the biggest manufacturers of primary aluminium in Asia. Also, the copper smelter of the company is the world’s largest custom smelter being at a single location.

COMPANY NEWS

Nalco’s take on proposed mines bill

Shri B.L. Bagra, CMD, NALCO has welcomed the provisions for sharing of profits and additional royalty on mining in the proposed Mines and Mineral Development and Regulation (MMDR) Bill. However, he has stressed on developing a robust mechanism for proper utilization of the funds for achieving the stated objective.

Sectorwise Budget 2012-2013 analysis by Frost & Sullivan

Steel plants will benefit through since good quality coal imports could be used as fuel. With the exemption of customs duty and CVD, price of coal will reduce and keep domestic coal prices under check. This will in turn reduce the production costs of steel and thereby improve steel companies’ profitability. Also, the duty exemption for coal mining projects and duty reduction of mining equipment for iron ore plants would promote coal mining activity and iron ore pellet plants and enhance the availability of coal and iron pellets for the steel industry.

PRODUCT / MARKET

SIROLL^CIS Air Bearing Shapemeter Shape measurement for aluminium

The modular construction of the instrument enables it to be tailored to any specific application without compromising its full operating capability.

COMPANY REPORT

Hydro publishes first quarter 2012 results

Hydro’s underlying earnings before financial items and tax amounted to NOK 557 million in the first quarter, down from NOK 1,133 million in the previous quarter. Lower realized aluminium prices and continued weak markets, in particular for European extrusion operations, weighed down underlying results. Hydro’s Energy business posted solid results along with power production at record levels.

REFRACTORY

Insight to manufacturing processes for Alumina – Silicate & High – Alumina Refractories at Chirkunda Refractory Cluster Plants, Jharkhand

During the months of March & April, 2011, visit to refractory works & in-depth interactions were carried out in 11 nos. of units to critically study their raw materials input, prevailing production process, equipment used, product mixes & customers linkage (mainly steel plants). Parallely, technical interactions were also pursued with the 9 nos. of customer steel plants (5 nos. of SAIL units & 4 nos. of pvt. sectors) located in Jharkhand & West Bengal as those are nearby to Chirkunda Zone. This has enabled to depict a SWOT analysis for the cluster members.

MINING INDUSTRY

Online Condition Monitoring offers Early Warning of Impending Equipment Problems

Timken Co., an Ohio, U.S.A.-based manufacturer of bearings, seals, power transmission components and specialty steels, has introduced to the mining industry an equipment condition-monitoring service called the Online Intelligence System (OIS). The system, which is being gradually rolled out to various industrial sectors and global market regions, is designed to provide a modular, flexible approach for monitoring the status and health of mission-critical machinery.

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Factors Influencing Grain Refining Behaviour of Master Alloys and their Study on Fading and Poisoning Phenomena in Al and its Alloys

Al-Ti-B grain refiners are well-established and generally perform better than Al-Ti alloys. Because of the importance of Al-Ti-B alloys, most studies have been carried out with this system. The performance of grain refiners is very sensitive to the alloying elements present in aluminium. For example, small amounts of zirconium have been found to poison Al-Ti-B master alloys and render them much less effective. Al-Ti-C master alloys are new generation grain refiners which are free from agglomeration and poisoning problem as faced with Al-Ti-B master alloys. The growth restricting role of solute Ti is generally accepted, but the nature of the substrates upon which heterogeneous nucleation occurs is still unclear. The present paper has critically reviewed and discussed various aspects of grain refinement in Al and its alloys.

SEMINAR & EXHIBITION

Indian Steel at the Crossroads, New Delhi

The demand map of steel is on a growing spree in the country of India. As the economic arena of this country is widening, so does the consumption and requirement rate of steel. Steel, as an entity has become a 'part' and 'parcel' of each and every human life and in India, there is no exception. So, the fact remains that steel businesses in India is definitely on a high.