News

Rio Tinto, together with the Cheslatta Carrier and Haisla First Nations, today celebrated the launch of the tl'ughus tunnel boring machine, a key milestone towards completing the Kemano Second Tunnel project. The 1300 tonne machine was named by the Cheslatta Carrier nation after a legendary giant monster snake and is decorated with artwork by Haisla Nations students.   It will dig 7.6 kilometres of tunnel through a mountain as part of a project to enhance the long-term security of a clean power supply for the BC Works aluminium smelter in Kitimat, British Columbia.  ...

TOMRA Sorting Recycling has introduced a new-generation X-TRACT machine with innovative Dual Processing Technology which enhances final purity levels; multi-density channels to enable more precise classification and sorting of materials; and a broad range of application packages. Valerio Sama, Vice President and Head of Product Management Recycling, commented: “With X-ray transmission technology to assess materials according to their density, X-TRACT was already capable of delivering exceptional sorting performance. TOMRA’s innovative and unique Dual Processing...

Today Repak, Ireland’s only government-approved packaging recycling scheme announced that more than 7 out of 10 aluminium drink cans sold and consumed in Ireland in 2017 were collected for recycling. The 7,297 tonnes collected for recycling last year is the highest rate of aluminium can recycling since Repak began recording data in 2006. The data, provided to Repak by both its members and registered packaging collectors and recyclers, shows that overall tonnage of aluminium packaging collected for recycling in 2017 has grown by over 50% compared to 2016 (4,728 tonnes to 7,297...

MYTILINEOS S.A. has announced the agreement for the acquisition of a 97.87% stake in EP.AL.ME. S.A., a company that operates in industrial production, processing and trading of metals, mostly aluminium alloys and derivative products. Through this acquisition, MYTILINEOS S.A.: • Substantially strengthens its Metallurgy Business Unit  • Directly increases the production of aluminium billets (raw material for extrusion units producing aluminium profiles) from 120,000 to 155,000 metric tons, increasing its total production capacity, with prospects to reach total capacity...

According to reports, Alcoa is to close two of its three aluminium plants in Spain with a combined annual production of 180,000 tonnes. The closures will result in approximately 700 job losses. The Aviles and La Coruna plants were two of the least productive due to intrinsic structural problems such as inefficient technology and high fixed costs, Alcoa said in a statement. “Those problems, together with external market factors such as overproduction in China, high raw material prices and energy costs, have generated significant losses in these two plants in the last two...

Hydro and its joint-venture partner PENTA have made a joint investment decision to expand operations at the Slovalco plant in Slovakia, enabling the plant to produce both primary aluminium and serve as a remelter for conversion scrap from extrusion plants in Central Europe. The Slovalco plant is located at the heart of a growing aluminium market, and the new remelter facility attached to the existing plant will be able to serve extrusion plants in Slovakia and neighboring countries by converting their process scrap to aluminium products. Hilde Merete Aasheim, Head of Primary...

At a special award ceremony held at the ALUMINIUM 2018 exhibition in Düsseldorf, the first ever winner of the Robert V Neher Award, a global academic competition for foil research and development, was announced.  Hiroyuki Nishikawa and Yoshiki Hashizume were presented with a cheque for €10,000 for the award-winning work: Development of super water-repellent material TOYAL LOTUS®. The winning submission detailed the development of a novel aluminium foil lidding material for yogurt packs that eliminates packed products sticking to the inner side of the lid. TOYAL...

European Aluminium confirms positive market outlook despite trade challenges. At ALUMINIUM 2018, Europe’s leading aluminium trade fair, European Aluminium confirmed that the outlook for the European aluminium market is positive. Overall, the industry shows positive numbers for semi-fabricated products driven by the strong demand in the transport sector, and a good performance in the building and construction, packaging and machinery sectors. European primary production, however, is experiencing temporary clouds due to trade challenges including the U.S. tariffs on aluminium,...