COMMENT :
Indian aluminium majors trying hard to survive recession
On the outset, economic recession has hit every sector of the world metal industry to a large extent with no sector having the chance to escape the adverse effects of the global economic slowdown. Obviously, India’s non-ferrous industry is no exception to that. Due to the liquidity crisis, as the bankers and money lenders to the industry feeling shaky for the time being, the industrialists have no other way than to compulsively taking the hard steps, such as, cut in output, prices and manpower. Although, the non-ferrous and steel manufacturing major have not declared officially about the production cut, but, they are searching for the production rationalization options, according to reports. Indian aluminium majors are managing the tough time of recession well at the moment.
SPECIAL COVERAGE
Hindalco: short term outlook negative, long term market fundamentals strong
Hindalco Industries Ltd., the flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, today announced its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended 31 December 2008. Net sales and revenues at Rs4,117 crore in third quarter of FY09 are lower as compared to Rs4,539 crore for the corresponding period in FY08. The steep reduction in aluminium and copper LME led to fall in the overall sales revenue; this was mitigated by the rupee depreciation against the USD.
NEWS CORNER
Siemens to supply two Process Control Systems, Flatness Measurement and Spray Bars for Jiangsu Guowei Aluminium Company
The two new Siroll ALU Technological Control Systems will be installed to increase capacity as part of Jiangsu Guowei’s 2008 Investment plan. The process control systems will further improve the quality of the rolled products and improve productivity of the plants with the end result being increased production.
Alcoa announce further reduction in aluminium production effective immediately
Combined, the company’s curtailment efforts in the second half of this year total 15% of the company’s annualized output, or 615,000 mtpy. The additional curtailments are necessary because of lower end-market demand and global economic softness. The curtailments follow targeted costreduction initiatives and will be spread across the company’s global system. This approach will minimize the costs associated with wholesale plant shutdowns and re-starts and the impact on plant communities.
INTERVIEW
One of our key focus areas will be exceeding customer expectations with a strong focus on R&D
India with 5th largest bauxite reserves in the world with 5% world deposits continues to remain a low key aluminium consuming country with per capita consumption under 1 kg while in the western world it is way above at around 30 kg. But aluminium demand in the country is growing resulting in an ample scope of increase in the usage. There is tremendous opportunity for growth in India backed by sectors such as power, building & construction and transportation. Indian aluminium extruders now need to shift their focus on the R&D activities in order to establish a sustainable future. Bhoruka Aluminium through its constant endeavour on perfection has been able to make a name for itself in a country with over 250 extrusion companies spread over the organized and the unorganized sector... an interview with Mr. Rajat Agarwal, Executive Director of the company.
COMPANY PROFILE
Achenbach conceptual designs setting new standards
The response from customers has been particularly positive. Fourteen machines were sold in the past two years to China, Asia and Europe: nine separators together with a complete plant modernisation, three slitters and a doubler. Three of these machines are already in operation and have been accepted by clients with great satisfaction. In addition to the qualities that are characteristic of all Achenbach equipment, there are benefits that are specific to the OPTIFOIL foil slitting technology and others that are attributable to the widened Achenbach product range.
METAL FOCUS
Aluminium Rolling: Improving production and quality levels with minimum energy consumption
Demands on the industry today are increasing for improved production and quality levels. A modern AFC system (Automatic Flatness Control) can achieve very increased performance levels leading to increased mill speed and better product quality, hence the result of increased productivity with lower energy consumption. An essential component within a high-performance flatness control solution, is the intelligent application of process coolant through the sprays actuator, normally acting on the work rolls of a typical “4-Hi” rolling mill. Recent improvements in systems technology, particularly with the tools available for datalogging, have enabled the cooling/flatness relationship to be studied in more detail which has led to substantial improvements.
Metals traders once again focus on the market, but fundamentals still very weak
Unlike LME, market bounced back quite sharply at the COMEX on back of technical buying. This was however quite an exception to other markets including SHFE. Meanwhile, the negative sentiment further deepened when data released by the World Bureau of Metal Statistics noted that the world copper market was in surplus by 286,000 tons in the first 11 months of 2008. This compares with a deficit of 201,000 tons for the same period of 2007. Mine production for the first 11 months of 2008 was 14.1 million tons, some 1.3% lower than in the first 11 months of 2007. Refined copper production rose 2.6% to 16.89 million tons.
Indian aluminium high potential to move forward with world-best technology
Historical estimates of productivity growth in India’s aluminium sector vary from indicating an improvement to a decline in the sector’s productivity. The variance may be traced to the time period of study, source of data for analysis, and type of indices and econometric specifications used for reporting productivity growth. Analysis shows that in the twenty year period, productivity in the aluminium sector declined slightly by 0.2%. An econometric analysis reveals that technical progress in India’s aluminium sector has been biased towards the use of energy, while it has been labour saving.
Aluminium’s brightness behind Orissa’s sheen
This is the opportune time for Orissa to collaborate with the primary and secondary producers in this sector to add value to the capacity creation of SME sector as downstream development. Most critical factor in that direction would be to bridge the gap of human-vis-à-vis technology capacity building and infrastructure upgradation. Through a dedicated technology center/park to house development cum training center for Die Casting Technology, Design Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Lean Processing and Resource Management, the center can provide all guidance to industries in downstream application of aluminium and the technical and the managerial resource skill in Orissa can be well equipped in to meet industry standards in auto components and related engineering application.
TECHNOLOGY / PROCESS REVIEW
Green Solutions For Aluminum Rolling
In a world of increasing population density and dwindling energy supplies, green technology and environmental concerns have gained prime importance for a business that used to rely on virtually unlimited energy resources and a seemingly forgiving environment. The aluminum industry is under constant pressure to achieve faster rolling speeds, thinner gauges, wider strip and larger coil sizes. These demands drive continuous process development and offer the opportunity to improve the ecological footprint of aluminum rolling. Consequently, energy-efficient technologies such as variable speed pumps and high-efficiency AC drives are introduced wherever possible to take advantage of the operating cost benefits and to reduce environmental impact.
Experiences with Water Modelling of Inline Degasser
The quality of cast aluminum products largely depends on the treatment of molten metal prior to casting. A variety of methods have been devised and used to treat molten metal. Degassing, one of the effective way of treatment has been used in the foundry industry for a long time. Degassers inject bubbles of an inert gas into the melt. These bubbles provide stable nuclei into which hydrogen can diffuse and act like sink to carry dissolved hydrogen along with inclusions onto the surface.
Toughness Variation for Liquid Phase Sintered W-Ni-Fe
The heavy alloys are tungsten based two-phase composites used in applications requiring high density. The alloys are liquid phase sintered from blended elemental powders. After sintering, the microstructure consists of a rounded tungsten phase (typically 50 am in diameter) surrounded by a matrix phase containing dissolved tungsten.
The typical chemical composition ranges from 80 to 98% W with either Ni-Cu, Ni-Fe or Ni-Fe-Co additions. Understandably, the mechanical properties are variable with microstructure, chemistry and processing. Yield strengths in excess of 500 MPa are fairly common, however, ductility and toughness tend to be unpredictable. Generally, the Ni-Fe alloys exhibit superior mechanical properties and a 7:3 ratio of nickel to iron is observed to be optimal.
CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION
New Tube Materials in Development Trendy as ever: higher-tensile steel grades
Tubes offer various uses as conduits and construction elements. Important areas of use include oil and gas production as well as the transport of oil, gas, water and other media. Further customers can be found among the power plant technology, chemical engineering and petrochemical industry, the vehicle and machine production sector as well as the construction industry. Since a few years ago, the producers of steel tubes in particular have been posting high growth rates in the production segment. The following two main reasons have contributed to this development: On the one hand the enormous industrial development in China and on the other hand the rapidly increasing demand for energy. The internationally rising need for oil, gas and power leads to a growing demand, especially for exploration and conduit pipes.
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