News

Sapa has re-opened its factory in Bedwas, Wales to supply the growing automotive industry demand for lightweight body structure solutions. The first customer to be supplied from the refurbished facility will be London Electrical Vehicle Company (LEVC), who has developed an all new zero emissions capable black cab. Sapa is investing £9.6 million in the plant refurbishment and new equipment to supply advanced aluminium components. The investment is backed by £550,000 from the Welsh Government which helped secure the project for Wales as Sapa looked into production at...

The UK’s aluminium industry is on the search for the designers and engineers of the future as it launches this year’s Alu D&T Challenge.  Secondary schools throughout the UK are invited to take part in the Challenge which aims to teach 11-14 year olds about sustainable design. The Challenge includes an opportunity for students to enter their ideas in a national competition for a chance to win prizes for themselves and their school.   The Alu D&T Challenge supports the D&T curriculum for 11-14 year olds. It provides free lesson plans and a range of...

Effective as of August 1st, 2017, Dr Gary Mahon has become Managing Director of Innoval Technology (Innoval). Gary moves into his new position having been a Director of Innoval for the last 10 years. He is a metallurgist with 30 years aluminium product expertise, and so is ideally placed to take the company forward. He replaces Dr Tom Farley who, after much consideration, has decided to retire from the aluminium industry after 28 successful years. Tom joined Innoval at its inception in 2003 and was appointed Managing Director in 2007. Over the last 10 years he has successfully led...

Norsk Hydro's acquisition of Orkla's 50% ownership in Sapa was completed today, October 2, giving Hydro full ownership in the global leader in extruded aluminium solutions and making Hydro a leading force in the global aluminium industry.  The combination makes Hydro the only global company in the aluminium industry that is fully integrated across the value chain and markets, and gives Hydro unparalleled strength in technology, R&D, innovation and product development, as well as an unmatched product and service offering to the benefit of more than 30,000 customers...

Following a successful debut at the Paris Air Show, last month, the two companies are working together to optimise the processing techniques for the high-performance alloy on Renishaw metal additive manufacturing (AM) systems.  They are also investigating a range of heat treatment regimes to deliver optimum properties in additively manufactured components.  The results of these developments will be made available to Renishaw and Aeromet customers.   A20X® is a family of next generation high-strength aluminium alloy technologies, developed and patented by Aeromet....

Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) has been making steady progress with the execution of its flagship development, the Line 6 Expansion Project, according to a statement issued by the Chairman of the Alba Board of Directors, Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa.   The site preparation, earthworks and concrete (including precast) works continue to ramp-up with the overall project progress at 25% through the end of July (including 50% progress in engineering and 70% progress in procurement and contracts). In addition, the first structural steel is scheduled for erection in...

UC Rusal has announced the completion of the modernisation of Befesa-2 line for standard alloyed ingots production at the Irkutsk Aluminium Smelter (IrkAZ). In 2018, RUSAL plans to commission another line, Befesa-1, and the total investment in both lines will amount to USD7.6 million. The purpose of the project is to maintain share in the casting alloys market as well as to improve quality characteristics of the products to meet the demand of the IrkAZ’s customers in Europe and Asia. Within the framework of the Befesa-2 line, the specialists of the Engineering and Technology...

Crown Holdings, Inc. has announced that it will build a new plant in the Valencia region of Spain to produce aluminium beverage cans. The location of the facility, Parc Sagunt, is approximately 10 miles north of the city of Valencia, and was selected based on its close proximity to key customers as well as the excellent local infrastructure and transportation links. The Company currently operates two steel beverage can plants in Spain, in Agoncillo and Seville, and will be constructing the new facility to meet the growing demand and preference for aluminium beverage cans in the...