Aluminium International Today Highlights 2018

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THE JOURNAL OF ALUMINIUM PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING

2018 HIGHLIGHTS

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Applying Industry 4.0 to the aluminium industry Aluminium manufacturers are constantly looking to improve the efficiency of their production processes and are relying upon increasingly sophisticated digital technologies to streamline their operations.

In such a fast-moving world, characterised by complex Internet-based manufacturing systems, Future Aluminium Forum 2019 is a must-attend event for aluminium professionals who want to unravel the mysteries and get to grips with the complexities of Industry 4.0.

This international technology conference will draw upon the unrivalled expertise of aluminium industry professionals, production technologists and academics, to create an event designed specifically for those seeking a greater understanding of ‘smart manufacturing’.

The canvas will be broader, the net spread wider and other linked topics – such as 3D printing, artificial intelligence, automation, robotics, and ‘social product development’ – will be high on the agenda.

The Future Aluminium Forum is a live discussion that will examine how Industry 4.0 and digitalisation will revolutionise aluminium manufacturing and analyse the benefits that can be gained from doing so.

Expect lively conversation, animated discussion panels and plenty of networking opportunities in Warsaw, Poland on 22-23 May 2019.

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CONTENTS 1

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Comment and News

8 Future Aluminium Forum

The future is now Digital Edition No6 - 2018 Highlights Editorial Editor: Nadine Bloxsome Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855115 nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com

COVER

11 Pricing update

2018 Aluminium outlook: For once, it’s not about China

Consulting Editor: Tim Smith PhD, CEng, MIM Production Editor: Annie Baker

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THE JOURNAL OF ALUMINIUM PRODUCTION AND PROCESSING

Sales Sales Manager: Nathan Jupp nathanjupp@quartzltd.com Tel: +44 (0)1737 855027

2018 HIGHLIGHTS

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14 USA update

18 Transport & Handling Combilift officially opens €50 million

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20 Transport & Handling

Industry 4.0 in the aluminium smelter 22 Primary Hydro’s new technology pilot: Breaking new ground in energy

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24 Future of aluminium

Towards 4.0: The Smelter of the Future

28 Automotive BLOODHOUND is GO! ALUMINIUM INTERNATIONAL TODAY is published six times a year by Quartz Business Media Ltd, Quartz House, 20 Clarendon Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 1QX, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1737 855000 Fax: +44 (0) 1737 855034 Email: aluminium@quartzltd.com

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38 Projects & Products

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Aluminium International Today

2018 Highlights

2 COMMENT

Hydro: Low carbon products Hydro has announced two new low-carbon aluminium products, designed to help customers reach their sustainability goals and meet the demand from ever more climate-conscious consumers.

2018 Highlights Welcome to this special ‘2018 Highlights’ issue of Aluminium International Today.

Not only does this issue give you a rundown of the biggest news stories and features from across the year, but it also acts as a lovely little Christmas present from us to you!

In the spirit of Christmas (and possibly because I’ve already got a bit too excited) I have tried to summarise what Aluminium International Today brings you in the style of a festive song I hope you’ll recognise...

On the first day of Christmas, Aluminium International Today gave to me: Six printed issues Five thousand Twitter followers Four newsletters monthly Three digital specials

The new products will be independently certified by DNV GL. The new products are: � Hydro 4.0: hydropower-based aluminium with a maximum content of 4.0 kg CO2 per kg aluminium, and; � Hydro 75R: aluminium with a guaranteed post-consumer recycled content of minimum 75 percent “We are proud of our indus-

try-leading climate strategy that has resulted in producing aluminium with the lowest energy consumption and the lowest emissions in the world, and our aim to become carbon-neutral from a life-cycle perspective by 2020.

As every part of our aluminium production is managed in-house, we can now take the next step by launching certified sustainable aluminium products,” said Svein Richard Brandtzæg, Hydro’s CEO.

ALLOW launched UC RUSAL has reaffirmed its environmental credentials with launch of new low carbon aluminium brand ALLOW. The new low carbon aluminium brand, ALLOW features a significantly lower carbon footprint – specific volume of greenhouse gas emissions – as compared to the industry average.

As demand amongst consumers grows for more sustainable and environmentally friendly aluminium, RUSAL has seized on the opportunity to utilise its unique access to clean, renewable hydro power to provide a product with a much reduced carbon foot-

print. ALLOW’s carbon footprint is lower than 4t CO2/t Al, while the world average is currently approximately 12t CO2/t Al (scope 1 and 2 at the smelter). All ALLOW branded metal produced by RUSAL will be independently verified so as to provide credible quality assurance for its customers.

Since its foundation, RUSAL has invested significantly into reducing its environmental footprint by modernising its facilities and developing new technologies.

In 2016, its total expenditure on implementing environmental actions totalled USD119.9 million.

Vladislav Soloviev, CEO of RUS-

AL, commented: “The launch of our new low carbon aluminium brand, ALLOW, represents a watershed moment for RUSAL in terms of sales strategy development and work with our customers.

We know that consumers are increasingly demanding ever greater detail about the provenance of the products they purchase and their associated carbon footprint. ALLOW will provide consumers and manufacturers alike with confidence that the aluminium used in their products has one of the lowest carbon footprints in the industry.”

Two daily news stories And a Future Aluminium Forum We hope you have enjoyed everything we have brought you this year and I am always interested to hear from readers or companies if you have industry news to announce or opinion pieces to share.

You can always keep up-todate with the latest information and view the media pack on our website: www.aluminiumtoday. com or get in touch with me: nadinebloxsome@quartzltd. com / +44 1737 855115 I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a healthy, happy New Year!

2018 Highlights

UK alloy plant agreed

The GFG Alliance has welcomed the decision of the Highland Council South Area Planning Committee today (30th January) to grant full planning permission for a new 400-worker alloy wheel fac-

tory next to the Liberty British Aluminium smelter at Fort William.

The consent, which comes with a number of standard conditions, clears the way for the company to begin detailed design on the

landmark project to develop the UK’s only large-scale alloy wheel plant, with work hopefully beginning on site later this year.

It is intended that the new plant – part of a £120m investment by GFG at Fort William - will use aluminium from the adjacent smelter to manufacture up to two million wheels a year for the British car industry, with production beginning in early 2020. The ambitious plans for the site will make Fort William a major centre for the automotive industry, supplying at least one fifth of all the wheels required by UK vehicle manufacturers.

Aluminium International Today

2018 NEWS 3

ElvalHalcor contracts SMS ElvalHalcor has awarded a contract to SMS Group GmbH, to supply a new four-stand tandem aluminium hot finishing mill for its Oinofyta plant, near Athens.

This order is part of a EUR 150 million investment in equipment, technology and infrastructure, announced by the company on the signing of the loan agree-

ment with the European Investment Bank on December 22, 2017, for its financing.

This investment represents the first phase of the company’s five-

year plan to more than double its flat rolled aluminium products capacity.

With the new four-stand tandem mill, the future spectrum of hot rolled strips will range from 1.8mm to 12.7mm in thickness and up to 2.6m in width, and will secure ElvalHalcor’s position as one of Europe’s leading producers of wide aluminium sheet.

This investment allows for the increase of ElvalHalcor’s current presence in aluminium packaging, industrial, transportation and architectural applications and sets the base for expansion in the automotive and aerospace sectors.

The new investment also supports the further modernisation of the plant, introduces the latest industrial technology, increases energy efficiency and improves the environmental footprint.

The new hot rolling line will start production in the first quarter of 2020.

Pilot starts production At the end of January, Hydro started producing the first aluminium metal at the technology pilot in Karmøy, marking the start of verifying at an industrial scale the world’s most climate-and energy efficient alAluminium International Today

uminium technology.

“We’re now producing aluminium in the technology pilot, and we are very excited that we can now start to use this technology at an industrial scale,” says Hilde Merete Aasheim,

Executive Vice President for Hydro’s Primary Metal business area.

Compared to the world average, the Hydro-developed technology will use 15 percent less energy in aluminium pro-

duction and has the lowest CO2 footprint in the world. The low energy consumption, coupled with high productivity, means that Hydro can safely say that the technology pilot in Karmøy will be a world leader.

2018 Highlights

4 2018 NEWS

World’s first carbon-free aluminium smelting process Rio Tinto and Alcoa Corporation have announced a revolutionary process to make aluminium that produces oxygen and eliminates all direct greenhouse gas emissions from the traditional smelting process.

Executives of Rio Tinto, Alcoa and Apple were joined by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier of Québec Philippe Couillard for the announcement, which signals the most significant innovation in the aluminium industry in more than a century.

To advance larger scale development and commercialisation of the new process, Alcoa and Rio Tinto are forming Elysis, a joint venture company to further develop the new process with a technology package planned for sale beginning in 2024.

Elysis, which will be headquartered in Montreal with a research facility in Quebec’s

Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region, will develop and license the technology so it can be used to retrofit existing smelters or build new facilities.

When fully developed and implemented, it will eliminate direct greenhouse gas emissions from the smelting process and strengthen the closely integrated Canada-United States aluminium and manufacturing industry. The new joint venture company will also sell proprietary anode and cathode materials, which will last more than 30 times longer than traditional components.

Canada and Quebec are each investing $60 million (CAD) in

Elysis. The provincial government of Quebec will have a 3.5 percent equity stake in the joint venture with the remaining ownership split evenly between Alcoa and Rio Tinto.

Apple is providing an investment of $13 million (CAD). The company helped facilitate the collaboration between Alcoa and Rio Tinto on the carbon-free smelting process, and Apple has agreed to provide technical support to the JV partners.

Rio Tinto and Alcoa will invest $55 million (CAD) cash over the next three years and contribute specific intellectual property and patents.

The patent-protected technology, developed by Alcoa, is currently producing metal at the Alcoa Technical Center, near Pittsburgh in the United States, where the process has been operating at different scales since 2009. The joint venture intends to invest up to $40 million (CAD) in the United States, which would include funding to support the supply chain for the proprietary anode and cathode materials.

Vincent Christ, an experienced leader with more than 30 years’ experience at Rio Tinto Aluminium, has been named Chief Executive Officer of Elysis. Most recently, he has served as head of technology, research and development and automation programmes. He holds an engineering degree in electronics and industrial information technology.

New sheet facility Aleris has announced the opening of its aluminium automotive body sheet production facility in Lewisport, Kentucky.

The project, which represents a $400 million investment, positions Aleris to meet significant growth in North American automotive demand as the industry pursues broader aluminium use for the production of lighter, more fuel-efficient vehicles. The company began shipping automotive products from Lewisport to customers this month.

“The opening of our new automotive facility in Kentucky marks the completion of a significant piece of our strategic realignment, which includes expanding our capacity and capabilities to serve the automotive industry and other

2018 Highlights

high value end uses,” Aleris Chairman and CEO Sean Stack said. “As an experienced supplier to automotive manufacturers in Europe, we look forward to partnering with customers more closely now in North America to bring them the most advanced auto body sheet products in the industry.”

Lewisport is the company’s first site in North America that is equipped with aluminium auto body sheet finishing capabilities.

Announced in 2014, the expansion includes the addition of heat treatment and finishing capabilities, including a new wide cold mill, two continuous annealing lines and an automotive innovation centre, which includes a state-of-the-art research and development centre in Detroit.

Aluminium International Today

5

Karmøy in full production All 60 electrolysis cells are now in operation at the Karmøy technology pilot, where Hydro aims to industrialise the world’s most climate and energy efficient aluminium electrolysis technology.

“Our aim is to be the global leader in technology and innovation in our industry, and the Karmøy pilot helps advance that ambition and ensures that the Norwegian technology cluster remains the global leader in sustainable aluminium production,” says Hydro president and CEO Svein Richard Brandtzæg.

The technology that is being tested at Karmøy will have the

The organisers of the Future Aluminium Forum, Quartz Business Media, have established an Advisory Board to develop a strategic approach towards integrating Industry 4.0 across the aluminium manufacturing and processing sectors.

The first Future Aluminium Forum was held on 8th & 9th May 2018 in Milan, Italy and saw more than 150 delegates from across the aluminium manufacturing and processing industries gather to hear from technical experts and uncover the myths behind Industry 4.0 and what this means for the manufacturing value chain.

One of the most important points raised at this inaugural event was the industry needs to work together in order to streamline efficiency and create an environment open to innovation.

The Future Aluminium Forum Advisory Board is made up of experts and familiar faces from across the sector, who are on hand to offer knowledge on areas for development and discuss how the industry can work together as Aluminium International Today

lowest CO2 footprint and will use 15% less energy during production compared to the world average in aluminium production.

The technology consists of 48 cells with 12.3 kWh/Kg HAL4e technology and 12 cells with 11.511.8 kWh/kg HAL4e Ultra technology. This is well under the world average of 14.1kWh/kg aluminium and Hydro’s own average of 13.8 kWh/kg aluminium.

The first cell was started in January, while the last one was started Tuesday this week. During the start-up, Hydro has gradually increased the aluminium produc-

tion in the pilot, tuning in all the equipment supporting the cells, handling the high magnetic fields and delivering on a new level of operational precision.

“The safe and successful startup of the technology plant is a great achievement for the organisation, and very promising for the next phase - running the pilot at full-scale to verify this technology,” says Hilde Merete Aasheim, who heads the Primary Metal business area in Hydro.

Several of the elements from the technology can be used in existing plants to lower energy consump-

tion and improve productivity.

Technology spin-offs to existing production lines in Hydro will contribute to Hydro’s capacity creep ambition of an additional 200,000 tonnes per year by 2025 vs 2015.

The total capital expenditures for the technology pilot is NOK 4.3 billion, supported by a contribution of close to NOK 1.6 billion from Enova, a Norwegian public enterprise which supports new energy and climate-related technology. Innovation Norway provided NOK 22.5 million in the early development of the pilot.

Future Aluminium Board announced

we enter the digital manufacturing age.

You can view the members of the Board online (www.futureal-

uminiumforum.com/the-advisory-board) and there is also an option to ask them a direct question if you would like to know more

about how Industry 4.0 is impacting aluminium manufacturing and processing.

2018 Highlights

6 2018 NEWS

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Mecfor unveils AGV Mecfor proudly unveiled one of its most innovative projects to date, the AGV TEAM: The first automated guided vehicle designed and made in North America and destined specifically for the worldwide primary aluminium production industry.

The vehicle is able to manoeuvre in completely autonomous fashion within complex environments posing numerous challenges, such as strong magnetic fields, dust, wide temperature variations and constant interactions with workers and

other equipment.

“With this technological investment, Mecfor is positioning itself for the aluminium refinery of the future while opening the door to other, similar equipment tailored for different industries in which operations are conducted in hostile environments,” said Éloise Harvey, president of Mecfor. “At the same time, we are reaffirming our position as a leader in our sector and contribute to Quebec’s position as a trailblazer in new technologies.”

EGA to supply Aludium Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has signed a five-year agreement to supply Aludium with rolling slab.

Aludium owns three former Alcoa rolling mills in Spain and France. EGA has supplied Aludium with metal since 2017. Rolling slab is processed into plate, sheet and foil products which are used in industries from automotive to printing and packaging.

The agreement was signed at EGA’s Al Taweelah site in Abu Dhabi by EGA’s Chief Marketing Officer Walid Al Attar and Aludium’s Chief Executive Officer, Arnaud De Weert.

Walid Al Attar, Chief Marketing Officer of EGA, said: “We are pleased that Aludium has chosen to secure these long-term supplies of rolling slab from EGA. We look forward to reliably supplying Aludium with the high-quality rolling slab they need to make their products over the years to come.”

Arnaud De Weert, Chief Execu-

tive Officer of Aludium, said: “We are pleased to have secured a multi-year agreement for high-quality rolling slabs. Aludium will be working with a smelter which has a secure and long-term energy

and raw material base, and which is committed to the highest standards of quality.”

EGA has the capacity to produce some 400,000 tonnes of rolling slab per year at its Al Taweelah

site in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi. EGA produced 2.6 million tonnes of aluminium last year and was the world’s biggest producer of ‘premium aluminium’ or value-added products.

Harsco acquires ALTEK ALTEK has announced that the Harsco Corporation (NYSE: HSC) has completed the acquisition of ALTEK Group, consisting of their UK operation ALTEK Europe Ltd., their US operation ALTEK LLC and Inductelec Ltd, their subsidiary Induction technology company.

The acquisition of ALTEK by 2018 Highlights

Harsco is driven by a strategic move to grow their environmental solutions business and expand their capabilities in industrial waste management services.

“This acquisition is a very positive step forward for ALTEK, providing the company with a strong financial owner who is committed

to supporting ALTEK’s growth and innovation strategy. With Harsco’s extensive international presence and company infrastructure, Harsco will greatly enhance the ability of ALTEK to provide service and support to its international customer base. This will be particularly helpful as we com-

mercialise our latest technology AluSalt™ around the world. With very similar and aligned values between the two companies, all of this will provide for a very exciting future for ALTEK with Harsco and the customers we serve within the aluminium industry,” says Alan Peel, Managing Director, ALTEK. Aluminium International Today

INDUSTRY NEWS 7

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Novelis to acquire Aleris Novelis has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Aleris Corporation, a global supplier of rolled aluminium products.

“Acquiring Aleris is the right opportunity at the right time as they are set for transformational growth. The significant in-

vestments they’ve made in the high-demand, high-value aerospace and automotive segments have resulted in favourable longterm, global contracts.

These investments, coupled with a diverse and talented workforce, will add tremendous value

to our organisation and allow us to deliver the highest quality innovative aluminium solutions to our customers,” says Steve Fisher, President and CEO, Novelis Inc (pictured).

First ASI certification issued An alumina refinery, five aluminium smelters and associated casting, recycling, waste management and infrastructure facilities in Canada, owned and operated

by Rio Tinto, are the first operations to be certified against ASI’s ground-breaking Performance Standard for environmental, social and governance performance.

In addition, Rio Tinto’s bauxite mine in Gove, Australia, is the first mine to receive ASI Performance Standard certification and the second ASI Certification issued.

The ASI Certification program was developed through an extensive multi-stakeholder consultation process and is the only comprehensive voluntary sustainability standard initiative for the aluminium value chain. Rio Tinto is a founding member of ASI and

is the first company in the world to achieve ASI Certification. The independent, third-party audits were carried out by BNQ (Bureau de Normalisation du Québec), which was the first ASI Accredited Auditing Firm.

Fiona Solomon, Chief Executive Officer at ASI said: “ASI is delighted to be recognising these historic first ASI certifications achieved by Rio Tinto. They demonstrate that ASI’s program has successfully transitioned to implementation.

The ultimate value of ASI lies in broad uptake throughout the aluminium value chain, and we are poised to increase momentum in both membership growth and certifications during 2018.

“We congratulate Rio Tinto and BNQ for their enthusiasm, diligence and commitment dur-

ing the Standards’ development phase, as well as their willingness to be a trailblazer as the first member to navigate the process.”

Rio Tinto Aluminium chief executive Alf Barrios said “Rio Tinto is proud to take this pioneering step as a global leader in responsible aluminium production.

“Aluminium has a key role to play in driving human progress, as a material of choice to reduce carbon and increase recycling across a wide range of end products from food packaging to buildings, planes, cars, mobile phones and computers.

“We expect leadership in responsible production will become increasingly important for our customers and the consumers who buy their products.”

Iran plans 2019 smelter According to reports, Iran is on track to launch an aluminium smelter in 2019 and be self-sufficient.

The new smelter will boost the country’s output by 70%.

Construction is underway of the South Aluminium Corp (Salco) smelter, due to produce 300,000 tonnes per year in its first phase, Mehdi Karbasian, deputy minister of industry, mining and trade, told the CRU Aluminium conference in London on Tuesday.

While Iran currently produces slightly over 400,000 tonnes per year of aluminium at two plants, consumption is around 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes, said Amir Mirchi, managing director of Canadian consultancy Auryce, which is advising Salco.

Water in a can Tesco is the first supermarket in the UK to sell water in cans rather than plastic bottles.

The retailer is now offering spring water in 500ml aluminium cans at its 700 stores under the CanO Water brand, which started two years ago in London.

“Aluminium cans have the highest recycling rate of any product Aluminium International Today

out there and a recycled can could be back on the shelf as another one in just 60 days,” says CanO Water co-founder Ariel Booker.

He hopes that his cans will rival industry giants, while their minimal design and cult social media following will attract a younger generation.

2018 Highlights

8 FUTURE ALUMINIUM FORUM

www.aluminiumtoday.com

The future is now Aluminium industry gathers to discuss the impact of Industry 4.0 and smart technology solutions. By Nadine Bloxsome* “An engaging, informative and busy two days, all delivered in an inclusive and informal fashion.

Congratulations to the organisers for a job well done.”

- Anthony Tropeano, President & CEO, TT Consulting Inc.

The first edition of the Future Aluminium Forum took place in Milan, Italy on 8th & 9th May. Organised by Quartz Business Media, the event was held in association with Aluminium International Today and consisted of a two-day conference and table top exhibition.

More than 150 delegates from across the globe gathered to hear from technical experts and uncover the myths behind Industry 4.0 and what this means for the manufacturing value chain.

Keynote Stefan Koch, Global Lead Metals at SAP SE, presented the Keynote speech, which focused on automating knowledge and use cases for the aluminium industry to go digital.

The message was clear from the beginning; digitalisation is not debatable and asset management in advanced manufacturing requires connectivity, collaboration and cross-industry data, information and knowledge sharing.

Stefan emphasised to delegates that, “digital transformation is a marathon, even though it may start as a sprint.” The industry is already moving into an era of digitalisation, but key areas need to be

addressed and these first steps must be taken together in order to stay ahead.

What is Industry 4.0?

The following sessions set about unravelling the origins of the concept and processes the industry can follow in order to successfully implement Industry 4.0 technologies.

Data and what to do with it, was a huge talking point. Dan Miller, Senior Process Consultant at Innoval Technology Ltd made it clear in his presentation that you have to transform data into tangible information in order to get the most out of it. He discussed the need to improve and monitor key parameters in order to prevent disappointing ‘data mining’.

Mark Breeden from HSO seconded the need for accurate data and announced that we are “set for a tsunami of great technology, which is heading our way,” in an engaging presentation. Mark presented ‘HoloLens’ and how it will enable the integration of augmented reality into the factory for manufacturers to use onsite.

Next to take to the stage was Hans Erik Vatne, Chief Technology Officer at Norsk Hydro, who reassured delegates that Industry 4.0 does not necessarily mean “goodbye to knowledge”. In order to

approach machine learning in aluminium extrusion, he explained that traditional domain competences must be combined with technology developments.

These thoughts were shared by the following speakers. Hans Peintinger, General Manager, QuinLogic GmbH, presented the importance of correct tracking and data in order to form an educated decision. His presentation included the ‘quote of the morning’, which was: “Garbage in, gives garbage out,” meaning that data quality is essential.

Touching again on the need for knowledge, Roger Feist from Achenbach Buschhütten GmbH & Co KG., said that sometimes human knowledge is the only valid tool for managing risk. This was an interesting point and raised a number of questions on the balance between a human and digital workforce. He went on to introduce a data platform for industrial cloud applications as a way of optimising efficiency.

Smarter safety By now, delegates had hopefully gained a better understanding of how the industry can begin to approach the looming digital era, but what challenges lie ahead and how can we protect our plants and

*Editor, Aluminium International Today 2018 Highlights

Aluminium International Today

FUTURE ALUMINIUM FORUM 9 5

workers? With data harnessing and management comes cyber security threats and with automation and robotics come new challenges for workers with regards to workplace safety; therefore the next session was designed to look at these areas.

Alexeis Garcia-Perez, a Reader in Cyber Security Management at the Centre of Business Society of Coventry University (UK) told delegates, “It is important to know the risks of manufacturing and the digital landscape so that you can understand and react to confidentiality, integrity and availability.”

This sparked an interesting discussion, as cyber-security and prevention of data hacking will become more relevant as we begin to store and collect information more remotely.

The next presentation by Mary Connie from Coltraco Ultrasonics explained the importance of protecting your assets, with a particular focus on fire safety and a system developed using the Internet of Things (IoT) and sensor-to-sensor technology.

Mary revealed to the audience that instead of waiting for annual checks, owners and building managers can now identify any changes to their installed Aluminium International Today

fire suppression system contents in real time and dispatch their servicing or maintenance team as soon as notification is received about a change happening to the installed system. This is now entirely possible through the reliance on recent IoT developments.

He told delegates, “We are in the age of seeking a low emissions future.”

While, Maarten Meijer brought the element of automation to the forefront and discussed how operators and robots can and should work hand-in-hand to create a more efficient aluminium smelter.

The smelter of the future With smarter technologies already being applied in smelters and the opening of the Karmøy Technology Pilot, it was more than appropriate to dedicate a session to what the smelter of the future will look like and how autonomy can create a safe zone, as well as increase efficiency in aluminium manufacturing.

Claude Vanvoren, President of the AVTAL Association led the panel, which also saw the return of Hans Erik Vatne, alongside Geoff Matthews, Vice President Energia Potior and Maarten Meijer, President of GLAMA Maschinenbau GmbH. Hans Erik presented the Karmøy Technology Pilot as an example of a smelter of the future and raised the question of whether we are heading towards more of a ‘micro-smelter’ approach in order to achieve maximum efficiency.

Geoff Matthews supported the importance of a sustainability aspect in the smelter of the future and stressed the need for more renewable energy usage.

Sustainable technologies After a night of entertainment at a local restaurant and an open bar, thankfully all delegates were present and correct for the opening of the first session on Day Two. Jerome Lucaes, Marketing and Sustainability Director at UC Rusal took on the role of Chair and focused on how the latest technology is aiding the move towards a greener aluminium industry.

His presentation showed a new lowcarbon aluminium market segment emerging and called upon the industry to pay more attention towards end of life recycling and not recycled content.

David D’Aoust, Sales Manager for PyroGenesis Canada continued the green theme with a process designed for better recovery of aluminium waste and the need to eliminate landfill usage.

Dr Melanie Williams rounded off the session and made an interesting point about how blockchain could play a role in sustainability certification and traceability.

Melanie also told delegates: “As European 2018 Highlights

10 FUTURE ALUMINIUM FORUM

Aluminium said in its comment on the Plastics Strategy, all packaging must be treated equally. However, industry cannot just rely on the EU and consumers, it must play its part as well.”

Innovation Hub European Aluminium played a pivotal role in the early stages of planning the Future Aluminium Forum. It was realised from the beginning that the Forum would provide the perfect platform to present the Innovation Hub, which is a proactive community of innovative companies from across Europe’s aluminium value chain.

The goal is to trigger research projects that advance a sustainable future and tackle technological challenges, thereby advancing the industry’s Sustainability Roadmap to 2025.

The Innovation Hub Session saw Hans Erik Vatne, Serge Despinasse from Fives Aluminium Division, Claudio Pastrone from Instituto Superiore Mario Boella and Christian Leroy, Manager of the Innovation Hub at European Aluminium come together to discuss how digitalisation can boost innovation and sustainability in the aluminium sector, especially through collaborative public-private funded projects and a cross-sectoral approach.

The panel discussion pressed the point that collaboration is crucial for innovation in areas such as safety. Hans Erik Vatne told the audience that he does not believe humans will be replaced by automation, but automation can increase workplace safety and create more interesting jobs by eliminating repetitive tasks.

Training is also the key to safety prevention and the panel agreed that in order to aid digitalisation, staff must be properly trained to fill the skills gap in certain domains. By going digital, it is hoped that the aluminium industry will 2018 Highlights

also become more attractive to a younger workforce.

What does the future look like?

The remaining sessions of Day 2 took a look at products and processes working to help streamline the supply chain and what the future of aluminium manufacturing will look like.

Claudio Goldbach, Business Development Manager at Termica demonstrated a system he had developed, which can allow the furnace to talk to you!

Claudio became known as the ‘Dr Doolittle’ of the industry and his engaging presentation demonstrated digitalisation of heat treatment and was a great example of Industry 4.0 in action in an aluminium manufacturing plant. It was for this reason, that Claudio was announced as the winner of the Innovation Award at the close of the conference.

The Innovation Award is in collaboration with Aluminium International and recognises an innovative product or project from the Forum, deemed to make a difference to a process or optimise production. Congratulations to Claudio on being the first winner!

Networking opportunities As well as a providing a wealth of content and a stepping stone for the industry to work towards digital production, the Future Aluminium Forum also hosted a number of networking breaks and a delegate dinner.

The breaks were held alongside a dedicated table top exhibition, which saw companies such as ALTEK, QuinLogic GmbH, Innoval Technology Ltd, Achenbach Buschhütten, Ametek Land, Claudius Peters, GHI Hornos Industriales S.L, GLAMA Maschinenbau GmbH, Lintec

www.aluminiumtoday.com

Europe, PyroGenesis Canada and Thermo Fisher all present their products and processes.

Delegates were able to engage with exhibitors in an informal environment and view the technologies on display, which included Virtual Reality concepts and cloud based applications.

A networking dinner was also held on the first night, which saw more than 100 delegates gather to enjoy the local Italian hospitality in relaxed surroundings.

Closing remarks One of the most important points to take away from this inaugural event is that the industry needs to work together in order to streamline efficiency and create an environment open to innovation.

Companies and even competitors need to support each other, sharing ideas and practices in order to allow us to move seamlessly into a digital age.

The Forum highlighted that Industry 4.0 plays a role in research projects, applications, equipment, processes, efficiency and even the workforce.

Delegates learned how best to collect and store data, the importance of reliable data and its protection against security threats.

It is clear that new technologies are being put in place to prevent risks, increase safety, reduce energy usage and improve the impact of aluminium manufacturing on the environment.

However, this integration of new technologies will not happen overnight and delegates expressed their gratitude to the organisers that the Future Aluminium Forum helped to solidify relationships across the value chain and with solution providers; making the industry more prepared than ever to enter the Fourth Industrial Revolution. � Aluminium International Today

PRICING UPDATE 11 5

2018 Aluminium outlook: For once, it’s not all about China Location is everything when it comes to aluminium. A stubborn Chinese surplus depresses local prices whilst an ex-China deficit has driven LME prices to highs not seen since 2011. Regional premiums are also on the rise as trade barriers loom. Near term, we expect pressure from high Chinese semi exports, but further out we see potential for the two worlds to diverge: A more isolated surplus in China versus a tight LME market with a thirst for ingot. For once, it’s not just about China…By Oliver Nugent* Chinese Semi’s: The SHFE-LME arb is the most supportive for Chinese exports since 2011 and the high January number (+14% yoy) will be the norm for some time We expect aluminium prices could tend down towards $2,000 near term as long fund money retreats from signs that the Chinese surplus is spilling out into the LME domain. But any weakness will be temporary and consumers might look to hedge on these dips. We expect prices to average $2,300 in H2 2019.

Ex-China Deficit: Central to our view is the observation that the ex-China market is in a growing deficit and whilst we do expect this to be even larger than the Chinese surplus it is the ex-china balance that matters most for the LME price.

LME Tightness: The LME is thirsty for

ingot. Backwardations are increasingly common at the front of the curve.

This will drive prices higher after the funds retreat. LME stocks are dwarfed by those off-warrant which creates a structural imbalance between borrowers and lenders. Higher premiums and low warehouse incentives compound the situation China isolation: The fake semi trade has collapsed significantly and trade barriers threaten to displace markets for genuine semi exports. The Chinese surplus will be less able to alleviate the ex-China tightness.

For once, it’s not all about China… (Fig 1).

Near term headwinds Chinese aluminium exports to remain strong for some time The differential between Shanghai and

LME is the most supportive for exports of semi’s since 2011. January semi’s exports were up 14% year-on-year and with our 2018 expectations of a 1MT Chinese surplus and 1.7MT RoW deficit we expect the arb to remain supportive for some time. Exports will likely stay high in the coming months especially to the US given the high premiums and ahead of potential trade tariff’s.

The LME Aluminium price breached $2,200 in December as macro funds broadly allocated to the most liquid commodities on themes of inflation and global growth. Money manager longs rose 13% in the last 2 weeks of December, a similar surge for copper. Even since early Jan profit taking and liquidation was starting to occur which has accelerated amid the equity market sell-off. We expect more liquidation in the coming months

*Commodities Strategist, ING Aluminium International Today

2018 Highlights

12 PRICING UPDATE

$200

2.0 1.5

450

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1.0 0.5 0.0 -0.5 -1.0 -1.5 -2.0 -2.5

500

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Ex-China post trade China

2012

2013

2014

2016

2015

2017

2018F

Fig 1. China and ex-China aluminium balances set to diverge (MT)

5

-1

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2019F

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-1

r Ap

15

lJu

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1 ct-

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6

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Ja O A Semis exports (‘000mt)

7 7 8 7 6 6 17 l-1 -1 r-1 Jul-1 ct-1 an-1 Ju Oct Jan J O Ap China semi’s export Arb ($/mt)

Fig 2. China Aluminium semi exports and arbitrage (‘000mt, $/mt)

1200 2000 1500 1000 500 0 -500 -1000 -1500 -2000 -2500

2010

2011

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2013 2014 Global

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US put antidumping stopped Extrusions from 2011

215 483 440

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USA restarts

India

Europe

Middle East/Africa

300 200 100

Contango is positive

$2,200

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Jan 2016

0 2013 2015 2017 South Korea US

Fig 5. China extrusions exports to usual suspects drop in 2017

amid bearish Chinese trade data and project prices to trend down to $2,000/ mt in Q2. After this we are bullish and recommend consumers hedge at these dips. Fig 2.

The bull case: Ex-China deficit The LME Aluminium price is settled by the willingness of participants to make or take delivery of primary metal in an LME warehouse, ex-China. Chinese primary aluminium is however largely walled off behind a 15% export tax. A widening gap between ex-Chinese smelting capacity and growing demand creates deficits that now far surpass the so-called ‘fake semis’ trade. The shortage of primary metal will drive LME prices higher.

$2,300

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$0 -$5 -$10 -$15 -$20 2011 Mexico

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2005 2007 2009 Vietnam Vietnam

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Fig 4. Ex-China primary annual production changes (kt),

500

(‘000kt)

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2018 Highlights

1000

Ex-China post trade

Fig 3.Global and Ex-China Aluminium Balance(kt),

400

2,500.00 2,400.00 2,300.00 2,200.00 2,100.00

Sharp Aug roll drove prices above $2k Prices & spreads correlating $1.7k-$1.9k

$2,000 $1,900 $1,800 $1,700

Feb-March roll $1,600

Nov 2016 Jan 2017 LME aluminium Month 1-2 ($/mt) ($/mt)

$1,500 $1,400

Nov 2017 Jan 2018

Fig 6. Sharp backwardations at the front of the LME curve support prices

Restarts will fall short of ex-China demand Whilst Chinese smelting production has grown almost 50% in the last 4 years, smelting in the rest of the world is up only 6% and has majorly lagged a 21% increase in demand, putting the ex-china market firmly into deficit.

Since 2015 the ex-China shortage exceeded 1MT but was softened by the fake semi’s flow. Last year it grew to 1.9Mt (pre-trade) and was a still very sizeable 1.75MT after the fake semi’s of primary metal that made its way out of China, bypassing the export tax We expect at least another 2 years of high shortages given just 1Mtpa of supply will be added each of the next two years. Analysts will always disagree on precise numbers but this RoW deficit is

universally agreed. We include a generous assumption of restarts in our base case and still find a 1Mt (pre-trade) shortage if demand was flat. At GDP expectations of 3.3% and 4.2% demand growth for ex-China in 2018/19 the ROW deficit is 1.9MT/2.2MT pre-trade and 1.7Mt/2Mt assuming the same fake semi flow.

In fact as China’s aggressive supply reform (capacity swaps, winter cuts, illegal capacity cuts), now slows its capacity growth, the ex-China deficit could even outweigh the Chinese glut. But location is key. A mild 250kt global deficit last year pales against the effect of the 1.7Mt exChina inventory drawdown that drove LME prices up 34%. Fig 3. Fig 4.

The growing depth of ex-China deficits far surpass what is possibly alleviated by Aluminium International Today

PRICING UPDATE 13 5

www.aluminiumtoday.com

Chinese 2017 exports (kt)

India (Foils)

100

Australia (Extrusions)

45

US (PSS +Foils)

670

US (all aluminium articles) European (Extrusions) Total

1000 160 1000-1330

Source: Trademap

Table 1. Highlighted Chinese aluminium exports at risk (kt)

exports of fake semi’s. We actually believe these ‘fake’ flows are on the decline.

Looking at extrusions and sheet trade flows to the usual suspects we estimate that in 2017 fake semi’s exports dropped by 60% to their lowest since 2010. Given high trade tensions authorities are likely to make it increasingly difficult for repeats of the well-publicised big tonnage flows that went into Vietnam, Mexico etc in previous years.

Given this, any projected stock draws will be far more significantly in the exChina, LME domain, taking from both on warrant and off-warrant stockpiles.

The effect will be to intensify the existing tightness within the LME system, which will see western prices continue outperforming shanghai.Fig 5.

LME Backwardations and Premiums face off The LME is thirsty for ingot, as evidenced by frequently sharp backwardations in the monthly rolls. December’s long money inflows were a rare sight in a market that has mostly been driven by short covering since it bottomed in Nov 2015. If fund buying stops it will be backwardations and short covering that drives the market upward once more.

We identify 3 sections to the aluminium rally. From Nov 2015 to August 2016 prices rose 12% but open interest also fell 13% as money manager shorts were squeezed out by over half. Through to H1 2017, short covering drove prices up a further 19% but it was now the producer/ merchants shorts down 11% and a flatter overall open interest as trend following funds added longs, which partly offset the decline. Only since H2 2018 has fund long allocation been the key driver and open interest is up with prices.

LME Aluminium doesn’t trade like the other metals. The sheer masses of inventory hedged/financed globally sees calendar spread trading dominate. Spreads dictate the cost to roll a position (i.e. keep inventory financed) and while convention is to focus on Cash- 3M most LME positions are on the monthly (3rd Wednesday) prompts. Focusing on these front month spreads we see regular spasms to sharp backwardations near expiry. Around these Aluminium International Today

times open interest dips as the shorts flee pay the cost to roll. The key price barriers of $1,500, $1,800 and $2,000 were all breached in this way.Fig 6 The LME tightness is the structural result of the huge financed inventory that dwarfs on warrant stocks by around 5x (ex-China). The price of a spread is the balance between borrowers (rolling a short) and lenders (sell the nearby date to the borrower in return a further date).

Stock financers are borrowers. They need to roll short hedge forward come the monthly expiry. A natural lender would be a holder of exchange stock outside of a long-term hedge (‘’free-floating’’) because this covers the exposure of the near term sell. Given less free-floating stock, when a mass of stock financing rolls the high demand to buy out the nearby short far outpaces the natural lenders.

The deep backwardations are formed until lenders are incentivised or the shorts squeezed out.

Conventionally backwardations incentivise deliveries, which in turn generate lending but high premiums make this tougher. A stock financer not wanting to pay the cost to roll will weigh the premium he can earn in the spot market against any incentives paid by LME warehouses. Since the LME curbed queues, incentives are down. We hear only $50/mt compared to a US premium at $280/mt and the CME curve expects higher.

Backwardations must therefore pull increasingly hard to offer a time premium that can both compete and more severely push stock financers to liquidate. As shorts are forced out this supports LME prices. In an ex-China primary metal deficit attracting delivered units is set to get tougher still. Until this tightness ends LME price will generally trend up.

Rethinking the China Connection LME Aluminium’s connection with the Chinese market is unlike any other metal.

In its surplus China is a minimal importer so does not pull on LME deliverable material. On the contrary, frequent LME backwardations demonstrate a pull on stock in the other direction but the 15% export tax is keeping most primary metal out the equation.

China’s own market balance only fundamentally connects with the LME through the non-primary semi-fabricated exports that earn a 13% rebate. The most direct means is the fake semi’s (minimally fabricated extrusions/sheet that to be recast into ingot).

As discussed these flows have arguably already peaked some years ago and we expect trade tensions to render any significant growth especially tough.

The challenge to fill the RoW deficit therefore depends on genuine semifabricated exports that can displace demand and free up ingot to be delivered on to the LME. Given lengthy supply chains, financing and offtakes we don’t think displacing primary is as immediate an impact as is often assumed but also the required hefty 20% increase in the 4.8MT export figure is very unlikely considering mounting trade protectionism that will close off customer markets.

The US, India, Australia and Europe are all either investigating or have already imposed restrictions on Chinese products.

The US made up 15% of Chinese exports last year and the 232/ITC investigations looks set to at the least render Chinese foils and common alloys uncompetitive.

These alloys themselves itself made the majority of last years near 0.5Mt of the Chinese-US flat rolled trade and + 170kt of foils (10% of all Chinese semi’s exports). Europe is the largest buyer of china’s aluminium where an investigation on extrusions (160kt) alongside a beefed up methodology that can quicker prove dumping poses further risks. Add in an Indian ban on Foils (100kt), Australia already acting on extrusions (45kt) and you get to sizeable numbers (1Mt+) which will take time to find new markets let alone to grow exports so significantly.

During this time the LME price will be rallying on the said tightness.

The key takeaway is the impact of the Chinese surplus on the rest of world primary balance is neither 1:1 nor immediate. Semi’s exports can only ease LME tightness by re-routing displaced primary.

We doubt the scale that this can grow in face of rising protectionism and would further reinforce how lagged the relationship could be. Chinese exports would need to find new downstream customers to the extent it knocks along the supply chain to hit upstream orders of ingot. This needs to accumulate sufficiently to depress spot premiums enough to justify LME deliveries. All the while we are expecting prices to grind higher through 2018 and 2019 on tight spreads and robust fundamentals in the LME’s domain offshore from the Chinese surplus. � 2018 Highlights

14 USA UPDATE

Restarting US capacity

By Myra Pinkham* There have been a number of moves to increase both aluminium smelting, rolling capacity, and even extruding capacity in the United States over the past year or so.

Also, several companies have announced their intention to increase, or further increase, their production capacity going forward.

This is not all that surprising with a litany of factors supporting such moves, including the strong U.S. economy, rising aluminium prices, growing domestic enduse markets and expectations that recently announced trade cases and aluminium Section 232 tariffs and quotas could crimp supply throughout the U.S. aluminium supply chain.

“Clearly the recovery of aluminium prices has played into this,” says Matt Meenan, a spokesman for the Aluminum Association, although he points out that prices could be volatile and that decisions to add or restart capacity need to be long term decisions. London Metal Exchange three-month aluminium has been recently fluctuating between $2,000 and $2,400 per tonne, up from $1,800 to $1,900 per tonne about a year ago.

This comes as the U.S. economy – and most global economies as well – is fairly strong, posting 2.2 percent GDP growth in the first quarter, which, while down from 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter of

2017, is up from 1.2 percent GDP growth a year earlier. This is being helped along by several strong aluminium consuming sectors, particularly the automotive industry. Even though it is generally believed that North American automotive output peaked in 2016, it has done so at a very high level, with North American light vehicle production expected to be somewhere between 17.0 million to 17.5 million units this year.

At the same time, the overall aluminium penetration per vehicle is continuing to grow, observes Ganesh Panneer, vice president and general manager – automotive for Atlanta-based Novelis Inc, who says that according to a recent study

by Ducker FSG, the overall aluminium penetration in light vehicles is expected to grow from about 400 lbs. per vehicle in 2015 to about 456 lbs. in 2020 and over 565 lbs. per vehicle by 2028, despite some uncertainty about the future of proposed fuel economy regulations.

Meanwhile, aluminium demand from other U.S. end use markets is also strong, especially the construction and truck and trailer sectors, Meenan says, noting that even the aluminium can market, which had been flat to slightly down has recently moved marginally up year over year, helped by greater use of aluminium cans for craft beer and carbonated water.

There are, however, some concerns about whether certain stimulus measures, including recent trade actions, has resulted in “a little bit of a sugar high,” John Mothersole, director of research for IHS Markit’s pricing and purchasing service, points out, possibly creating some short-term volatility, however he says that overall the U.S. economy, therefore domestic aluminium demand, should remain strong at least for the next five years or so. “That could continue to justify at least a degree of continued investment in the U.S. aluminium industry over the next several years.”

Upstream, several U.S. smelters have recently begun restarting previously idled capacity, which, according to Doug Hilderhoff, a principal North American aluminium analyst with CRU Group, isn’t surprising. “With the better U.S. economic conditions and higher LME prices and Midwest premiums, the economics are much better today for smelters than they have been.”

Mark Duffy, president of the American Primary Aluminum Association, notes that while there had been 23 aluminium smelters operating in the United States, producing about 3.6 million tonnes of primary aluminium in 2000, by the fall of 2015 rising global overcapacity resulted in a crisis that led U.S. producers to idle,

*US Correspondent 2018 Highlights

Aluminium International Today

USA UPDATE 15 5

says. “That’s why several U.S. domestic producers have recently announced that they will be restarting previously idled smelting capacity.

Even though they see China as the root cause of their woes, in general primary producers want the tariffs to be as broad and comprehensive as possible. The Aluminum Association, however, takes a different approach – for them to be more targeted, aimed at China vs. against such market economies as the European Union, Canada and Mexico.

“The big question, however, if whether the increasingly unfavourable economies in this segment of the U.S. aluminium industry (including high cost of power) has changed enough fundamentally that companies are willing to commit investible

coming months, just slightly later than it originally anticipated when this restart was first announced in July 2017 due to a temporary power outage at the smelter which affected work upon one of the three potlines. The annual capacity of the affected potline is approximately 50,000 tonnes. Hilderhoff says that once the three potlines are fully up and running, the Warrick smelter will be producing at 60 percent of its rated capacity.

A company spokesman says that, at least at this time, Alcoa hasn’t decided to step up its primary aluminium capacity at any of its other smelters. In fact, in mid-June the company announced that it was permanently closing one of the four potlines at its Wenatchee smelter in Malaga, Wash. The company said it was

dollars to build new smelting capacity,” Mothersole says, stating that he doesn’t believe that is the case. “I don’t think that anyone with a medium- to long-term planning horizon can assume that the Section 232 tariffs will remain in place forever,” he explains. “While they might be a longtime feature of the landscape, they aren’t a permanent feature, and, at some point, we are going to go back to the general smelter market fundamentals, including the impact of the cost of electricity,” he maintains.

However, through restarts of previously idled capacity, Hilderhoff estimates that U.S. primary aluminium production will move up to 919,000 tonnes by the end of this year and to 1.2 million tonnes in 2019.

Alcoa Corp. is on track to restart three of the five potlines – a total of 161,400 tonnes of annual capacity – at its Warrick Operations aluminium smelter near Evansville, Ind., in the next

doing so because that potline, which had a capacity of 38,000 tonnes per year and hadn’t operated since 2001, would be too cost prohibitive to restart. Alcoa didn’t disclose what the fate would be for Wenatchee’s other three potlines, which have been idle since December 2015 and have a total annual capacity of 146,000 tonnes.

Chicago based Century Aluminum Co. officially announced this March that it would be restarting all three previously curtailed potlines at its Hawesville, Ky., representing an additional 150,000 tonnes of additional production capacity.

In 2015 Century had reduced Hawesville’s production capacity by over 60 percent in response to the global primary aluminium overcapacity, but with this $100 million investment the company plans to get Hawesville back up to its full rated capacity of 252,000 tonnes per year by the end of this year or by the first quarter of 2019 at the latest. Hilderhoff notes that while

JW Aluminum expansion

or close, most of their domestic smelter capacity. In fact, Hilderhoff says by 2017 U.S. smelter production had fallen to only 744,000 tonnes.

But over the past year or year and a half – shortly after the Trump administration announced their intention to impose Section 232 tariffs upon aluminium (and steel) imports, companies began announcing plans to restart some of their idled smelter capacity.

Yang Cao, a senior metals analyst with Metal Bulletin Research, says that this timing wasn’t coincidental. In fact, he says that the main reasons behind U.S. aluminium producers to restart at least some of their idled smelter capacity was a combination of the 10 percent aluminium Section 232 tariffs and the sanctions levied on Russia’s UC Rusal.

This, according to Craig Bouchard, chief executive officer of Braidy Industries Inc., a new company that just broke ground to build an aluminium sheet rolling mill in Ashland, Ky., comes at a time when over the past several years about 85 percent of primary aluminium consumed in the United States had been imported.

“The U.S. aluminium market is in deficit, so after the import tariffs were put in place and with the second largest exporter of aluminium to the United States potentially hobbled by sanctions, the focus now shifts to how domestic producers could fill the void,” Cao Aluminium International Today

2018 Highlights

16 USA UPDATE

the restart activities have already begun, there is still some work that needs to be done before those potlines will begin to produce any incremental tons, as the ramp up process is a lengthy one.

Century, however, has not announced any plans to restart any of the idled capacity at its Mount. Holly smelter in Goose Creek, S.C., which is currently operating at about 50 percent of its rated capacity. “It is tough to predict if or when they will do so since they have been in a dispute with their local power authority for several years and any restarting of capacity hinges on their ability to reach an agreement with that power authority,” Hilderhoff explains. Michael Bless, Century’s president and chief executive officer, has said that the delivered power price to Mount Holly is 30-40 percent higher than that to Century’s Kentucky plants.

“Adding, or restarting, smelter capacity is all about the cost of electricity,” and could hinge upon aluminium companies going into the electrical power business, including building combustion turbine units to use cheap natural gas dedicated to their smelter, Mothersole says. “But the question is if they could get an independent power provider to build such a gas-fired unit.”

The only other announced restart of U.S. smelter capacity is the former Noranda New Madrid, Mo., smelter, which idled in 2016 and acquired out of bankruptcy

by Arg International AG and is to be run by its Magnitude 7 Metals LLC unit.

While they are already starting to prepare the potlines at New Madrid for restart, Hilderhoff says that Magnitude 7 plans to ramp up the smelter very slowly. It could possibly produce about 20,000 tonnes of primary aluminium this year and nearly 100,000 tonnes in 2019.

Even with these restarts – and even if all available U.S. smelter capacity is turned back on – there will not be nearly enough production capacity to meet market demand. Meenan observes that while there is only 2 million tonnes available smelter production capacity (including still idled capacity) in the United States, last year the U.S. market consumed about 5.5 2018 Highlights

million tonnes of primary aluminium.

This begs the question of whether companies will announce brownfield expansions, or even new greenfield smelters or whether companies will have to pay higher prices to import primary aluminium. But while Braidy’s Bouchard predicts that foreign companies will announce plans for two greenfield U.S. smelters within the next 12 months, other market observers aren’t so sure that either greenfield or brownfield projects are on the cards given domestic power costs. And if they are, Meenan says that the Aluminum Association would want the smelter base to be expanded in a sustainable way.

There have been several midstream and downstream capacity expansions – both for aluminium sheet and extrusions – since 2013 with more underway. While much of this has been aimed at growing automotive aluminium demand, helped by expectations of more stringent fuel economy and emissions standards, recent trade action against imports of aluminium foil and common alloy sheet have also helped.

Novelis’ Panneer says he believes that whether or not U.S. fuel economy and emissions standards are stepped back, there will continue to be a need for more automotive aluminium for a number of reasons.

First of all, consumers favour fuel efficient vehicles. Also, automakers design vehicle platforms based on global, not country-specific, specifications and that the expected growth in demand for hybrid and electric vehicles is also supportive of aluminium use to increase their range by lightening its weight.

The most recent moves to increase production of aluminium auto sheet is the construction of two greenfield mills – one

by Novelis and another by Braidy. Novelis broke ground in mid-May on a 200,000 tonne per year greenfield rolling mill in Guthrie, Kentucky, which is expected to be operational in 2020. Bouchard says these are the first greenfield rolling mills to be built in the United Sates in over 40 years.

In early June, Braidy broke ground on the fledgling company’s mill in East

Park, Ky., near Ashland, Ky. Its first phase, which is expected to be up and running by the second half of 2020, will give it the capacity to produce 300,000 tonnes per year of aluminium sheet (about half of which will 6000-series sheet and half common alloy. Bouchard says Braidy plans to immediately follow that with a 200,000 tonne per year expansion project. He maintains that his mill – both of its phases – are already sold out.

Hilderhoff says that currently announced aluminium auto sheet capacity additions should be sufficient to cover the demand growth expected in that sector through 2022 although it isn’t clear whether addition investments will be needed to cover auto aluminium demand beyond that.

Prompted by both the affirmation preliminary ruling in the still pending antidumping and countervailing duty trade case against U.S. aluminium common alloy sheet imports from China and growth for common alloy by the construction market, in mid-June JW Aluminum began its previously announced expansion project at its Mount Holly facility in Goose Creek, S.C., that is expected to give it an additional 175 million lbs. of capacity there.

Hilderhoff notes that construction demand has be growing by an average of four percent per year over the last several years and is expected to grow by threefour percent in 2018 and 2019.

On the foil side, last year, prompted by the successful trade action on aluminium foil imported from China, Sweden’s Granges AB announced plans to not only restart and slowly ramp up its Newport, Ark., light gauge foil mill starting in 2019, but it would also increase the capacity of its Huntingdon, Tenn., mill by about 40,000 tonnes in the second half of next year.

This, according to Hilderhoff, is even though domestic foil demand has been relatively steady in line with US GDP growth. “Rather the investments are for the volumes lost by the dumping duties on Chinese imports,” he says, noting that further increases in U.S. foil and common alloy could be possible. � Aluminium International Today

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18 TRANSPORT & HANDLING

Combilift officially opens €50 million headquarters and manufacturing

Nadine Bloxsome* was invited to attend the opening celebrations at the new facility in Monaghan, Ireland.

FORKLIFT manufacturer and material handling solutions provider Combilift has officially opened its new global headquarters and manufacturing facility in Monaghan, Ireland. Celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, the company also announced that it will be significantly expanding its workforce with the creation of 200 new jobs in the next three years.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Irish Prime Minister An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar TD said: “Combilift is an incredible home-grown Monaghan success story.

When the company was founded 20 years ago, it had three employees, a brilliant concept, and the ambition to make it a reality.

Combilift is playing a significant role in Monaghan’s success, and I would like to congratulate Robert Moffett and Martin McVicar and everyone at Combilift on their achievements to date and wish them every success for the future.”

Built at a cost of €50 million, the investment in the new 46,500 sq. m.

(500,000 sq. ft) facility will allow Combilift to realise its ambitious growth plans.

Martin McVicar, Managing Director said: “We have employed an additional 230 people since we announced our plans for this factory in 2015 and the combination of this state of the art production plant and the growing skilled workforce will allow us to double production within the next 5 years.”

Combilift currently exports 98% of its products to 85 countries through its 250-strong international dealer network.

The current workforce stands at 550 people and the new employment opportunities will be for skilled technicians, design engineers, logistics and supply chain specialists and those with mechanical and electrical mechatronics skills.

Mass customisation Martin McVicar attributes the company’s impressive growth and its status as an acknowledged world leader in the materialhandling sector to mass customisation.

“Combilift has set the benchmark for the mass production of customised innovative products. Mass customisation is the new frontier for both the customer and the manufacturer as customers are increasingly expecting products to be tailored to their requirements. We listen to and take feedback on board from our customers and dealers to identify solutions that best match their individual specific needs.”

Combilift invests 7% of its annual turnover in Research and Development to enhance its customisation capability and to maximise ROI for its customers. “The flexibility in our new facility means that we can continue to accommodate any request for a customised material handling solution. We also see ourselves as much more than a forklift manufacturer and are

transforming the transport and logistics sector with our innovative, space-spacing products and our services.”

Combilift offers a free logistic and warehouse design service which enables customers to see the benefit that its products will bring to their business.

“Our engineers proactively design, plan and produce material flow analysis and 3D animations - 150 to 200 per day for our worldwide customers - which clearly illustrate the capacity potential as well as the optimum flow of materials on their site.” said McVicar.

Growth of Combilift Established by Martin McVicar, Managing Director and Robert in Moffett, Technical Director, in 1998, Combilift is a privately held and fully capitalised company. It developed the world’s first multidirectional all-wheel drive IC engine powered forklift in 1998. In the first year of operation it produced 18 units,17 of which were exported. The company has more than doubled in the last five years and now has 40,000 units in operation in over 85 countries.

Combilift’s product portfolio has expanded way beyond its first multidirectional model according to McVicar: “Combilift has always focused on a number of niche market segments and has a proven track record of launching one or two new products

*Editor, Aluminium International Today 2018 Highlights

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global facility FACTS � The new 46,500 sq. m purpose– built factory is set on a 100-acre site with room for future expansion when required. With 11 acres of roof space, it is one of the largest manufacturing operations under one single roof in the Republic of Ireland. � Four 90 metre moving assembly lines produce a finished truck every 15 minutes. � There are 60 welding bays, two

annually. In the first 10 years we focussed on the long load material handling sector with the multidirectional range which revolutionised the handling of long materials, allowing customers to handle long products in less space more safely.”

Between 2008 and 2018 Combilift diversified its product ranged by developing a number of innovative space saving warehouse and heavy load handling products; the Aisle Master articulated truck and the Straddle Carrier (Combi-SC) respectively.

Pedestrian products were introduced into the range in the last five years, enabling Combilift to gain a foothold in this growing market. The Combi-WR, Combi-WR4 and the Combi-CS all incorporate Combilift’s unique patented multi-positional tiller arm technology. “There is a growing demand for pedestrian trucks, driven by safety concerns where customers and/or employees are in the vicinity of operating forklifts,” said McVicar. “It is our intention to significantly expand this range, as can be seen with the launch of the new high lift capacity Combilift Powered Pallet Truck (Combi-HC-PPT).”

New factory The new 46,500 sq. m purpose–built factory is set on a 100-acre site with room for future expansion when required. With 11 acres of roof space, it is one of the largest manufacturing operations under one single roof in the Republic of Ireland.

Incorporating the latest manufacturing processes with a focus on sustainability, the new factory will enable Combilift to Aluminium International Today

plasma cutting machines, three paint lines which use sustainable waterbased paints and three automatic shot blasters to cater for different sized products. � 12,000 pallet locations ensure ample storage space for parts and components. � Solar panels supply 185 kW of energy with a 1 MW Biomass plant fuelled by recycled wood � More than 50 truckloads of finished products are dispatched from the factory each week

The assembly lines in action

The Irish Prime Minister officially opens the factory

double its output in a single shift across all production lines. Four 90 metre moving assembly lines produce a finished truck every 15 minutes. There are 60 welding bays, two plasma cutting machines, three paint lines which use sustainable water-based paints and three automatic shot blasters to cater for different sized products. 12,000 pallet locations ensure ample storage space for parts and components. The facility also includes a 50-seat cinema training room, 5,000 m² of office space and a dedicated R&D Development and Testing Centre.

Approximately 23% of roof space is covered in skylights, enabling staff to work in natural daylight without the assistance of artificial lighting. Other lighting is provided through 1100 LED

light with individual PIR sensors. Solar panels supply 185 kW of energy with a 1 MW Biomass plant fuelled by recycled wood (pallets etc.) to heat the spraying booths and assembly area. 110,000 litres of rain water are harvested for jet washing and bathroom facilities.

More than 50 truckloads of finished products are dispatched from the factory each week, and spare parts are shipped across the world to the dealer network.

Certified to international quality and safety management standards, the new headquarters and manufacturing facility has been awarded ISO 9001 international quality management system, ISO 14001 Environment Management and OHSAS 18001 Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Series. � 2018 Highlights

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Industry 4.0 in the aluminium smelter

By Tor Arne Litlere*

The fourth industrial revolution of automation and data exchange in manufacturing technologies is rapidly entering into the well-known electrolysis environment. How can the old and established ways of handling this domain meet the new and innovative technical possibilities?

It will demand all the owners, management, operators and suppliers throughout the whole value chain to grasp the extent of possibilities it offers.

It will not only relate to the adapting of new sensors, or utilising possibilities in data and artificial intelligence, but just as much about “re-thinking” how things used to be done and whether an “outside the box” way of looking can help to renew the traditional approaches.

HMR Hydeq designs and produces machinery for efficient handling of the

molten aluminium from the potroom to the casthouse. The tapping concept based on vehicles already provides a very efficient way of tapping, transporting and discharging aluminium. But Industry 4.0 and new technology opens up new doors.

To succeed in this development journey, the company needs a close cooperation with, and a deep understanding of, the clients’ needs and operations. The most important aspects to cover are operational patterns, interfaces, standardisation of components and functions, adaption of new sensor technologies, and so on.

Through this work, it is easier to analyse where in the cycle improvements and efficiency can be achieved, and at what cost and resource allocations. To harvest new possibilities and see the solutions in a new light, we all need to challenge our minds and accept different solutions to

well-known cases.

We do know one thing for sure: Resources, functions, tasks and competences for the tapping cycle in the future will differ from the past – given that Industry 4.0 thinking is implemented.

It means that the business strategy and product management value chain will also require new tools and new competences.

HMR Hydeq has started the work with the autonomic handling of aluminium transport in the tapping cycle. This is not a new vision, but it gradually grows into focus, as technology to support this concept increasingly becomes accessible and commonplace. The potroom environment with its harsh and demanding operational conditions, much related to the strong electromagnetic fields, demands that new and more software configured products are able to

Next generation smelter - How to get there?

An industry 4.0 development journey - for HMR and for its clients:

Monitoring and operational insights as basis for decisions

Reduced maintenance efforts and higher availability

Less manual operations, more standardized automatic and safer operations, clear interfaces

Higher utilization Ultimate of assets, improved utilization of planning, better asset, less direct operational operated and efficiency, more monitored less operations, energy next generation consumption products

*Eng. Automation, General Manager at HMR Hydeq AS, Norway 2018 Highlights

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deal with the challenges not known from the past. At the same time, these software configured technologies, cyber-physical systems, the Internet of things (IIoT) and components are key factors in moving of the smelter cycle products onwards into Industry 4.0 context.

We know now that the resource and competence investment in developing of the aluminium smelter environment into the Industry 4.0 trend will be challenging, both in terms of Return on Investment perspective and technically. If we add the high rate of technology evolvement to this picture of the “smart factory”, we realise that we need to think ahead of ourselves.

The Gartner’s Hype Curve for Emerging Technologies is a good illustration of how we can look at this process. Only a few years back, the technology that we experience today as a “commodity” and “well-known”, was seen as “possibly in the future”.

Today we see new emerging technologies that will define how we experience commodity in a few years, and hence we, as a product developer, need to gain competence and knowledge much more rapidly and continuously as we move ahead.

When we observe Gartner’s graph, we should pay special attention to the

TAPPING VEHICLE COMPLETE CLOSED TAPPING SYSTEM HOT CRUCIBLE CLEANER

SIPHON TUBE PREHEATER

TUBE CLEANER HMR Hydeq designs, produces and services machinery for efficient tapping and transporting molten aluminium, based on the vehicles. All the products in this complete closed system, along with all externally interfaced equipment will be a part of the Industry 4.0 journey

technologies, which are on the Slope of Enlightenment, as these will most probably define trends in the near future.

At the same time, the users expect that the technologies that are already to be found on the Plateau of Productivity shall be utilised at large scale today, in order to be ahead of the development.

As we chase towards the next generation smelter design, it is important for all parties to harvest along the way.

For HMR it means to add functionality to its products, that address core challenges and represents value for clients. There is,

and there will always be a gap between possible solutions and feasible solutions for the adaption of technology in the aluminium smelter environment. It must be our mission to implement those that will bring most value to this environment and our customers.

The steepness of the Industry 4.0 climb for the aluminium smelter environment will be determined by how well we all are able to redefine the processes, and utilise the emerging technologies presented for us. This is an exciting journey that for sure will take paths not yet spotted. �

Connected home Deep learning

Virtual assistants IoT platform Smart robots Edge computing

Plateau will be reached in: less than 2 years

Machine learning Automomous vehicles Nanotube electronics Cognitive computing Blockchain

Augmented data discovery Smart workspace

Conversational user interfaces Volumetric displays

Brain-computer interface Quantum computing

2 to 5 years 5 to 10 years more than 10 years

Commercial UAVs (drones) Cognitive expert advisors

HMR believes in a step by step approach to the Industry 4.0 journey, where the technology triggers and the business opportunities in conjunction will draw the road map

Expectations

Digital twin Serverless PaaS 5G Human augmentation Neuromorphic hardware

4D printing

Deep reinforcement learning Artificial general intelligence

Enterprise taxonomy and ontology management Software-defined security

Virtual reality

Augmented reality

Smart dust

Innovation trigger

As of July 2017 Peak of inflated expectations

Through the disillusionment

Slope of enlightenment

Plateau of productivity

Time

Gartner Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies, 2017 (Source: Gartner, Inc. https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner)

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2018 Highlights

22 PRIMARY Here is the challenge: Build electrolysis cells that produce aluminium with the world’s lowest energy consumption and the world’s lowest CO2 footprint while maintaining high quality and productivity as well as a low CAPEX. In short, that’s what Hydro’s technology pilot at Karmøy is aiming to do: Verify at an industrial scale the world’s most climate-and energy efficient aluminium technology.

Hydro’s new technology pilot: Breaking new ground in energy consumption

More than a decade has passed since Hydro researchers and engineers started working on the next generation electrolysis technology. Today, 60 new electrolysis cells packed with Hydro’s HAL4e technology stand side-by-side at Hydro’s technology pilot in Karmøy, Norway. 48 cells will produce aluminium with an energy consumption of 12.3 kWh per kilo aluminium, significantly lower than world average and with CO2 footprint below 1.5 t CO2/t Al. The remaining 12 cells are equipped with HAL4e Ultra technology that brings the energy consumption down to industry benchmark at 11.5-11.8 kWh/kg.

The technology pilot consists of physical technology elements and an improved process control system. Many of these elements can be tailored for and used for existing aluminium plants too.

Taming the electromagnetic field The team at Hydro’s Primary Metal Technology often use the analogy of a racing car to explain the complexity of the cells. “We’ve developed a Formula One car which is so complex to drive that very few will manage, but now we’ve trained a number of drivers to manage this kind of car,” says Johannes Aalbu, Head of Hydro’s technology development, adding, 2018 Highlights

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“it’s like developing a new car model, except that you build both the car and the factory at the same time.”

Hans Erik Vatne, Hydro’s Chief Technology Officer, highlights the challenge of taming the electromagnetic fields. “What is unique about the technology pilot, is that we will produce 75,000 tonnes of high-quality primary aluminium annually, with low energy consumption and low emissions, in a limited amount of available space.

Placing compact electrolysis cells so closely together comes with huge challenges. When we send 450,000 hydropower-generated amperes through a cell, it creates strong electromagnetic fields that disturb the neighbouring cell.

We’ve now found the solutions that enable us to tame the forces created inside the cell, to achieve a stable metalbath interface which in turn means that we can reduce the energy consumption,” Vatne says.

“By developing a new control platform and introducing automation, we also have a highly precise and efficient aluminium production. We can perfectly manage heat-balance, add precise amounts of alumina and limit the amounts of energy waste to a bare minimum. We even use laser technology to monitor and limit emissions,” says Vatne.

Support from across Hydro and in external partners Hydro’s technology pilot is developed in-house, with contributions from the company’s research centers in Neuss in Germany, Porsgrunn and Årdal in Norway.

Program manager Asgeir Bardal, who leads the work on the HAL4e technology, says the technology pilot is a companywide team effort. “I’m very proud to be part of a team that is contributing to reducing emissions through the pilot’s record-low energy consumption in aluminium production. We have seen that it works in a number of test cells, and now we’re set to verify this technology at an industrial scale,” Bardal says.

Hydro has also had strategic partners in the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), SINTEF (independent research organisation), Institute for Energy Technology (IFE), The Research Council of Norway, Innovation Norway and ENOVA, a Norwegian government enterprise promoting energy efficiency.

In total, NOK 4.3 billion has been invested in the project – including NOK 1.6 billion from ENOVA. Hydro’s investment in the Karmøy technology pilot is the largest single investment in Norwegian mainland industry outside the oil and gas sector since Hydro expanded the Sunndal aluminium plant in 2002-2004. � Aluminium International Today

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Towards 4.0: The Smelter of the Future Factory of the Future, Industry 4.0, Smart factory, various designations co-exist to name the Fourth Industrial Revolution: A profound mutation of production modes within a highly evolving supply chain.

By Olivier Dufour, Patrick Richard, Claude Vanvoren and Coll*

This fourth industrial revolution was preceded by mechanisation, electrification and automation.

This revolution is mainly illustrated

by Information Technologies (IT) and Operation Technologies (OT) convergence i.e. Internet linking previously isolated control and operation systems, allowing the transition to an open and interconnected “Digital supply network”.

The development of this “plant of the future” aims at reaching a new threshold of competitiveness and sustainability leveraging the following main drivers: � Improving asset efficiency and use � Reducing waste, improving recovery and quality � Optimising processes and flows for cost reduction � Reducing capital employed and

work in progress through virtual

supply chain integration � Improving employee safety, reducing

environmental impact through efficient resource usage, in particular energy, ...

The smart factory marks a shift from automated mass production to personalised mass customisation. This latter element, coupled with the abovementioned aspects, opens up synergies between production hubs and customers, suppliers or partner locations and shortens the value chain (Fig. 1).

“4.0 factories” are more developed in manufacturing industries. In contrast, there are only few examples in process and commodity industries such as cement, paper, chemicals or - closer to us - steel and aluminium. Based on this observation, we studied the manufacturing developments to identify concepts transposable to the “Smelter of the Future” and evaluate the industrial, technical and economic conditions that would make them attractive to decision makers in our industry.

1. Smart Factory overview Industry 4.0 marks the transition from partially automated plants, often managed in silos, with loose horizontal and vertical integration - factories 3.0 - to “smart” factories based on flexible, connected and optimised workshops composed of collaborative machines[1].

The plant of the future is therefore: A connected factory: � Digitally linked with partners, suppliers and customers, allowing real time, fully traced, adjustment of processes and products. � Using autonomous and self-powered low-cost sensors for in-depth process performance, equipment condition and product quality monitoring. � Based on advanced self-controlled flexible robotic tending equipment, collaborating with operators. � Allowing a shop-floor decisionmaking process and interaction through cyber-physical systems (CPS), machine-

Digital supply networks Synchronised planning Traditional supply chain

Dynamic fulfillment

Connected customer

Cognitive planning Quality sensing

DIGITAL CORE Develop

Plan

Source

Make

Deliver

Support

3D printing Sensor-driven replenishment

Support factory

Digital development

Fig 1. Shift from traditional supply chain to digital supply network [2] Source: Deloitte analysis

Intelligent supply

*AVTAL: Association for promoting French aluminium technological heritage 2018 Highlights

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Opportunity value

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Single asset Maximising the performance of a single asset (e.g. machinery, tools, inventory, equipment, people)

Production line Improving the performance of a series of dependent assets (ie production line or manufacturing cell)

Factory Optimising the performance of an individual plant by better connecting and utilising assets

Factory network Maximising network performance by sharing capacity across sites in real time and connecting to the entire supply chain and product development cycle

Exponential value can be unlocked for manufacturers by implementing a complete smart factory or network of smart factories across the enterprise

Fig 2. Progressive transformation towards 4.0 in manufacturing [2]. Source: Deloitte analysis

to-machine or even sensor-to-ERP communication (Internet of Things). � using “Big data analytics” algorithms, allowing to move from a reactive to a predictive scale on equipment and process drifts.

An integrated factory: � where all flows, equipment and processes are modelled, allowing use of virtual reality for design, staff training or remote control. � in which Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and process control are closely integrated. � where utility consumption is made flexible to allow partnership with suppliers. � A virtual factory made of several physical plants allowing systemic optimisation.

Besides the major impact that this creates on employment, skills, work organisation and change management (see textbox), this development highlights also a set of other new challenges such as cyber-security, interoperability of heterogeneous systems, upstream integrated and life-cycle based co-design of product/equipment/process or even opportunities like moving to “remote service offer” models.

2. Smelter of the Future: from Manufacturing to Process Industry Building on manufacturing success, it’s time for the process industry to embrace the 4.0 concepts.

The manufacturing journey towards 4.0 started several years ago as a logical next step to intensive automation.

Manufacturing automation was driven by the significant weight of labour cost in overall production cost, directly (direct productivity, cycle time, access to labour Aluminium International Today

at acceptable rate, …) or indirectly (quality deficiencies associated with repetitive tasks, …). Automation enabled the rise of the Smart Factory and access to Mass Customisation.

In contrast, automation in smelters suffered from a lower labour vs production cost ratio and higher investment costs.

Moreover, until recently, product quality and product customisation were not significant drivers in the aluminium commodity market.

Most smelters have today reached a competitiveness plateau and future gains cannot come from a new wave of headcount and cost reduction, but from a significant improvement of process performance. With this in mind, one can easily foresee how some 4.0 tools, applied to optimised processes, could be the answer to underperformance or process excursions, whilst enabling lower costs in raw material or energy usage.

In manufacturing, automation was the stepping stone for the Smart Factory tools development. For the Smelter of the Future, the need and opportunity to use Smart Factory tools will trigger, through enhanced returns, a wave of automation which will lead to significant investments that will have to be coordinated across the plant to fully capture the benefits.

This new automation wave will bring improved working conditions, higher safety levels, more attractive jobs, solutions to environmental challenges and opportunities for new product specifications.

3. Digitalisation of existing smelters As illustrated in Fig.2 for Manufacturing, there is no need to wait for a hypothetic “big bang” to enter the journey towards 4.0. Far better is the option to start small and scale up to unlock value.

However, it would be misleading

to suggest this journey will consist of independent, incremental modernisations, decided on a case by case approach satisfying usual short-term profitability criteria.

Company digitalisation requires a holistic vision of the end state and demands significant investments in order to fully reap the benefits provided by the synergies between the different transformations undertaken at plant and company level.

When looking at existing smelter situation through the lenses of the sketch (see Fig.3), it becomes obvious that numerous initiatives have already been implemented, however often without a coordinated approach and, more importantly, without the compulsory competency portfolio and organisational shifts required.

A more detailed analysis of the different smelter workshops helps identify which technologies are already available or in an advanced development stage. a. Substation Seen in the past as a “fire and forget” investment, the last twenty years have reminded the criticality of this workshop.

Its failure leads to catastrophic loss of production and massive restart costs.

Maintenance practices from manufacturing (predictive maintenance, remote servicing, ...) could be implemented immediately. This workshop is critically sensitive to real time action carried out by staff in emergency situation. Virtual training and remote expert engagement can prevent huge financial losses. b. Carbon plant Green Anodes Plant and Rodding Shop are very close to manufacturing lines, with high level of automation and process instrumentation. A Smart Data approach, combining process improvement and predictive maintenance[3] is well suited to support the continuous improvement (average level and spread) of anode characteristics.

Anode Baking Furnace is probably the current weak point with a disappointing level of automation for a workshop which could be seen mainly as handling activities (green and baked anodes, raw material, equipment, …).

Technology is already available([8], [9]) to support anode tracking from raw material, green and bake stage, performance on reduction cell up to feedback loop with butt characteristics at rodding shop.

This is the critical element to improve, in an integrated way, carbon plant and reduction performance and is a perfect illustration of the “intelligent plant” concept.

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Smelter digitalisation examples

PTA monotoring

Reduction line(s) digitalisation Anode plant monitoring

Carbon

Casthouse

0,9

Metal flow management

Reduction

Equipment monotoring Anode tracing

Substation

Reduction performance

FTA monotoring

Operation center

0,8 0,7 0,6 0,5

Process excursion

0,4 0,3 0,2

Organisation Equipment

Workshop

Smelter

Smelter network

Fig 3. Digitalisation examples and organisational change progress

c. Casthouse Casthouse is also very close to manufacturing and will benefit directly from a Smart Data approach.

However, casthouse specificities are elsewhere. This could be the place where Mass Customisation enters the Smelter of the Future. Less attractive for mega smelters producing commodities for the global market, it is much more relevant for small/medium size smelters producing Value Added Products, closer to downstream customers and final users, as commonly found in Europe.

The smelter can reach another level of competitiveness by full metal flow integration from reduction to fabrication, moving from a “push” mode to a “pull on demand” using advanced control systems and automation in casthouse, reduction and transport. d. Reduction Finally, the reduction line also holds a key challenge of the Smelter of the Future.

Even today, reduction performance is too often characterised by periods of underperformance in comparison with the technology’s full potential. These periods, as illustrated by curve 1 in Fig.4, range from limited disturbances to major process excursions, often caused by: � Cell operation disruption, possibly worsened by unreliable operating practices (intrinsic quality or timing inconsistency) � Poor adjustment by technical management and/or process control to external disturbances (raw materials, …)

Moving from situation 1 to 2 and 3 implies a significant improvement in operational performance and, obviously, competitiveness.

Such improvement is at reach, with technologies already available or in advanced stages of development, through a step change in automation associated with Smart Data tools.

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0,1 0

Time

Fig 4. Schematic illustration of smelter operational performance

For example: � Heavy load handling by unmanned vehicles � Autonomous devices for tapping, measurement and sampling � Self-powered sensors enabling next generation of process control and Big Data usage However, the critical element will remain the automatic anode change. Several tests and attempts have been made during the last decades (Pechiney / ECL; Rio Tinto / Fives ECL; Hydro / NKM; ….)[10,11,12]. They have demonstrated the difficulties associated with safety (extreme complexity of safety systems until potrooms are considered as restricted area) and technical hurdles.

Attempts to automate manual sequences have led to high complexity, long cycle times and insufficient success rate. It is now clear that an integrated cell and anode handling design could overcome those difficulties and unlock expected return on investment in a retrofit context. e. Smelter network The Factory Network concept is also perfectly suited to develop “Connected Smelters”: � Shared technical management, based on Smart Data and possibly Excellence Centres � Shared high level expertise � Real time support for crisis management � Integrated supply chain management when geographically applicable A progressive development of such network (both through the number of connected workshops and plants) is achievable as demonstrated by Rio Tinto [4] f. Smelter of the Future: an integral part of utility network The ever-increasing ratio of renewables in the energy mix (35% for electricity in Europe in 2030[5]) further complexifies the utility network management. With

time and experiments, most smelters are now able to offer basic utility network demand response systems by modulating power input, fully or partially, for a limited time, with acceptable impacts on process efficiency. This enables utilities to optimise their cost structure and smelters are rewarded by a lower average energy rate[7].

However, this calls for higher integration of the smelters in those networks.

4.0 tools will also support this welcome development: � The “Connected Smelter” will be part of the utility network, enabling more accurate preventive actions ahead of modulation needs � Automation and advanced process control systems will enable real time plant operation adjustments � Smart Data will feed selflearning simulation models which will minimise efficiency loss, particularly by supporting decision makers on their best compensation strategy g. Change management As with any transformation, the journey to 4.0 raises a human challenge probably even higher than the technical one. Here are some of the hot topics to be addressed: � Design of target organisation and identification of future competencies (see Smelter of the Future Organisation textbox) � Staffing of new competencies that cannot be developed internally � Destaffing of obsolete competencies � Management of “detrainingretraining” of internal competencies through individual development plans 4. Conclusion The advent of the Smelter 4.0 is today an opportunity triggered by the availability of Smart Factory tools and a necessity to unlock the next level of competitiveness.

Unlike manufacturing where advanced automation gave birth to the Smart Aluminium International Today

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Factory, the availability of smart tools will support the Smelter of the Future full automation, with more attractive return on investments.

The Smelter of the Future is not restrained to a hypothetical still-to-be-designed Greenfield plant. Digitalisation of existing smelters is not only feasible but desirable to preserve their competitiveness. This transformation will deliver its expected value only if the following fundamentals are fulfilled: � This transformation cannot only consist of isolated opportunistic incremental modernisations. A holistic vision of the end state is required. To be relevant, this vision needs to be developed by a multidisciplinary team as digitalisation encompasses the whole value chain. � Coordinated investments are required to fully capture the benefits of integrating the different workshops and of connecting smelters together. � This transformation requires a large portfolio of competencies which do not necessarily exist within the organisation: it needs to rely on an ecosystem all along its journey � Last but not least, this transformation requires a vision of the end state organisation, of the target competency portfolio and a change management plan meticulously prepared and rigorously executed.

The advent of the Smelter of the Future therefore requires a strategic vision of the whole primary aluminium value chain and this is where it converges with manufacturing. � Bibliography 1. Définir l’usine du futur, La Fabrique de l’industrie, available : http://www.la-fabrique. fr/app/webroot/uploads/tiny/Chantiers/ Synthese_concept.pdf 2. R. Burke, A. Mussomeli, S. Laaper, M. Hartigan and B. Sniderman, (2017, August) “The smart factory – Responsive, adaptive, connected manufacturing”, Deloitte University Press, available: https://www2.deloitte.com/ insights/us/en/focus/industry-4-0/smartfactory-connected-manufacturing.html 3. M. Hebert “Le big data au service de la maintenance chez Fives ECL”, L’usine Nouvelle, available: https://www.usinenouvelle. com/article/le-big-data-au-service-de-lamaintenance-chez-fives-ecl-a-ronchin.

N668544 4. C. Vanvoren, (2016, October) ICSOBA Conference “Data connectivity, a Key Feature of the Smelter of the Future” 5. EU (2014, October) “2020 climate & energy package” 6. Frédéric Laloux, (2014) “Reinventing Organisations, A guide to creating Organisations Inspired by the Next Stage of Human Consciousness” 7. N. Depree, R. Düssel, P. Patel, T. Reek, TMS

light metals, (2016), The “Virtual battery” – Operating an Aluminium Smelter with flexible energy input.

8. Outotec, 2013 http://www.outotec.com/ company/media/news/2013/outotec-artstmanode-and-rod-tracking-system-for-primaryaluminum-smelters/?td=1B2M2Y8AsgTpgAm Y7PhCfg%3d%3d&_t_q=anode+tracking&_t_ tags=language%3aen%2csiteid%3a1cba2 1d0-a523-4c23-8a7e-c8179d705391&_t_ ip=77.136.85.252&_t_hit.id=Outotec_Web_ Features_News_NewsPage/_ea7b183b-9f6241e7-8383-11b4ac835285_en&_t_hit.pos=1 9. D.d, A., Grle, I., Harwardt, A., & Beilstein, M. (2014). Arts-Anode & Rod Tracking System - A New Tool for Optimization of Anode Performance. In Light Metals 2014 (pp. 1259–1262). Springer, Cham. https://doi. org/10.1007/978-3-319-48144-9_210 10. Innovations in Pot Tending at the Qatalum Smelter, https://www.qatalum.com/Media/ News/Pages/Innovations-in-Pot-Tending-at-theQatalum-Smelter.aspx 11. AP Technology™ Newsletter, Issue 19, (2015, March), https://www.ap-technology. com/SiteCollectionDocuments/AP_ newsletter_2015.pdf 12. Michael Trideau, ICSOBA (2015) “Embedded service robot: towards an automated, efficient and green smelter”, https://icsoba.org/sites/ default/files/2015paper/aluminiumpapers/ AL09%20-%20Embedded%20service%20 robot%20-%20towards%20an%20 automated%20efficient%20and%20green%20 smelter.pdf

Smelter of the Future organisation During the past half-century, smelter’s organisations have evolved, pushed by technology evolution, along two main streams: � Direct productivity increase through headcount reduction, which today, due to lack of new technological breakthrough, has started to level off. � Concurrently, attempts to flatten organisations with self-managed teams have fell short of delivering expected results, mainly because of misalignment between company – set team objectives and those set by the teams for themselves. This often led back to pyramidal organisations with the reintroduction of front line management.

This mid-management is however often overloaded with administrative tasks, sometimes leading them to overlook core technical tasks.

Today, due to its working conditions, competency profiles and organisational structure, process industries don’t

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appeal to young graduates who cannot grasp how their professional aspirations will be met.

To address this challenge, new organisations are proposed (i.e. F-form company[6]). However, we don’t think they will better perform until the root cause described earlier is addressed.

The 4.0 plant as an enabler for such innovative organisations

By drastically improving working conditions through automation and by increasing work attractiveness by the usage of smart tools, the 4.0 plant creates

the conditions for more homogeneous teams, which is the key element to achieve satisfactory alignment between company and team objectives.

With such level of expertise and accountability, each team member will feel on equal terms and will share the same objectives set through fact-based concerted decision-making processes.

However, such organisations need to be sized with operation crisis in mind, as such situation in a smelter requires significant human resources on the shop floor. Thorough crisis situation analysis (i.e. blackout) would be required ahead of organisation design. In order to achieve expected productivity target, smelter employees would be required to be trained to crisis situation contingency roles and remote high-level expertise would need to be available, for example from a centralised Excellence Centre.

All those competencies would need to be rigorously maintained, typically using a mix of virtual training tools and onthe-ground drills.

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BLOODHOUND is GO! BLOODHOUND’s first public appearance was witnessed by Ian Oliver* “You’ll certainly hear it, but you’ll probably not see it in this weather,” quipped the man on the gate of Newquay Airport in Cornwall, venue for the first – and only – public runs of the BLOODHOUND car in the UK, which took place in October 2017.

Fortunately, the distinctly autumnal weather improved, enabling three days of intensive testing for the vehicle designed ultimately to raise the World Land Speed Record above 1,000 mph. The world’s most advanced straight-line vehicle, BLOODHOUND’s high-speed runs in Cornwall marked a significant milestone in a project that has preoccupied project director – and former Speed Record holder Richard Noble – for more than a decade.

The supersonic car dream The BLOODHOUND tests came 20 years after its driver, Royal Air Force Wing Commander Andy Green, set the current World Land Speed Record of 763 mph in Thrust SSC, in the process becoming the first – and to date the only - person to travel supersonically on land. Noble’s next target – 1,000mph – required a radically different vehicle: one that has been ten years in development, and has cost £30 million to date, and counting.

The most complex car ever built, BLOODHOUND comprises more than 3,500 parts, many designed and manufactured specially for the project. Over 110 man years of effort have been invested in the design, build and manufacture of the car.

13.4m long and weighing 7.5 tonnes, BLOODHOUND uses a mix of car and aircraft technology, with the front section being a carbon fibre monocoque and the back portion being a metallic framework and panels. The two front wheels sit within the body and two rear wheels are mounted externally within wheel fairings. Both a jet engine and a rocket, together producing more than 135,000 horsepower, will power the car when it attempts the Speed Record.

At full speed, BLOODHOUND will cover a mile (1.6km) in 3.6 seconds – equivalent to 4.5 football pitches laid end-to-end,

per second. That’s why the team have selected an 11 mile stretch of lake bed at Hakskeen Pan in South Africa for future runs, and for the record attempt itself.

Prior to the public runs at Newquay, trials were initially carried out with the car chained to the ground, so the team could check the performance of the jet, fuel and electrical systems. These static ‘tie-down’ experiments were extremely successful, with the Rolls Royce EJ200 engine, normally found in a Eurofighter Typhoon, achieving re-heat despite the fact that the jet intake is designed to work best in air travelling at supersonic speeds of 850mph and above.

BLOODHOUND chief engineer Mark Chapman was pleased. “The Newquay tests have gone better than anyone dared hope and that is testament to the many years of research and design invested in BLOODHOUND. It is a one-off prototype with over 3,500 bespoke parts, so to see it performing so well is a hugely satisfying experience.”

“These trials at Newquay take us one step closer to setting the next World Land Speed Record,” adds Richard Noble. “They have been a fantastic team effort. The engineers have been on the front line, of course, but supporting them is a host of people who make the BLOODHOUND project what it is.”

Newquay 3,000 spectators gathered at Newquay Airport in to watch the BLOODHOUND team conduct two runs along the 9,000ft (2.7km) runway. BLOODHOUND accelerated at rate of 1.5g, reaching 200mph from a standing start in just 8 seconds.

“The design and engineering team has done an incredible job with BLOODHOUND,” said Andy Green, on completing the first test. “There is development work still to do, of course, but straight out of the box it feels responsive, stable and, above all, tremendously fast.

“Although 200mph is far below the car’s ultimate target of 1,000mph, this was a

proper workout for the vehicle. The car is designed for high speed on a desert rather than sprint performance off the line, but it still accelerates from zero to 200mph in less than eight seconds. Stopping a slippery five tonne car, running on lowgrip aircraft tyres, within a limited space is also a challenge, particularly as the car continues accelerating for several seconds after I lift off the throttle. We have built up to this over the past few weeks, but the performance today was still slightly astonishing.

“When we run on the dry lake bed at Hakskeen Pan, South Africa, BLOODHOUND will be running on solid aluminium wheels with even less grip than we had here. Data from today’s tests, including jet engine performance, aerodynamic stability and the braking distances, will help us plan our World Land Speed Record campaign.”

On the runway, the car used 84cm diameter wheels shod with pneumatic tyres, originally from a 1960s English Electric Lightning fighter. Specially reconditioned by Dunlop, these have around one-third of the grip of road car tyres.

Running on aluminium…

BLOODHOUND’s forged aluminium wheels (see panel) are real attention-grabbers, but aluminium is found throughout

*Marketing and Communications Manager for the Aluminium Federation 2018 Highlights

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features throughout BLOODHOUND, most notably in its forged aluminium wheels – the fastest wheels on Earth.”

BLOODHOUND. Unsurprisingly, given the project’s aerospace and Formula One influences, aluminium is the material of choice for a whole host of parts, including the tailfin, large sections of the chassis, and subassemblies. And while the nose section is skinned in composite material, its core is aluminium honeycomb.

Although the BLOODHOUND project’s focus is gaining a 1,000mph (1,609km/h) World Land Speed Record, its primary aim is to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers by showcasing STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) in the

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most exciting way possible. This was a major factor in the Aluminium Federation – the UK’s aluminium sector trade body – deciding to give BLOODHOUND financial backing.

“Education, especially in the STEM subjects, is vital to the future of manufacturing in the UK, and the BLOODHOUND project is doing an amazing job in inspiring young people in this area,” explains Aluminium Federation President Giles Ashmead. “But that wasn’t the only reason we decided to become a sponsor. Offering a unique combination of strength and lightness, aluminium

Hakskeen calling Now that the tests a Newquay’s 1.7mile runway have been completed, the BLOODHOUND team plans to ship the vehicle to a specially prepared 11 mile track at Hakskeen Pan, near the Namibian border in South Africa, in mid-2018.

The 2018 trials will test the car’s performance and handling during one of its most vulnerable phases: the point between 400 and 500 mph (640800km/h), where the stability of the car transitions from being governed by the interaction of the wheels with the desert surface, to being controlled by the vehicle’s aerodynamics. The grip from the wheels will fall off faster than the aerodynamic forces build up, so this is likely to be the point where the car is at its least stable.

The desert surface has been prepared by members of the local Mier community.

They have moved 16,000 tonnes of rock from 22 million square metres of dry lakebed, the largest area of land ever cleared by hand for a motorsport event.

“The track is 19km by 500m, with large safety areas on both sides,” explains Mark Chapman. “This allows us to lay out up to 50 individual tracks side-by-side, which is important, as we can’t run over the same piece of ground twice because the car will break up the baked mud surface as it passes. We need multiple tracks so we can build speed slowly and safely – going up in 50mph (80km/h) steps, comparing real-world results with theoretical data – and Hakskeen is the perfect place to do this.”

If next year’s testing is successful, Green hopes to top 800 mph in 2019 at Hakskeen Pan, beating his previous speed of 763 mph. Then, in 2020, the BLOODHOUND crew will add extra rocket motors for an attempt to set a 1,000 mph Land Speed Record - the project’s ultimate objective. �

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30 AUTOMOTIVE

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The fastest wheels on Earth Manned aircraft have flown faster than 1,000mph for more than 60 years – the first being Britain’s experimental Fairey Delta 2 in 1956. But achieving the same speed on land is a different matter entirely. This is mainly due to the need to maintain contact – the right sort of contact – with the ground at all times.

And that means a very special set of wheels - the fastest in the world.

When travelling at 1,000mph, BLOODHOUND’s wheels will be rotating at 10,200rpm, and producing a force of 50,000g at the rim.

And despite the best efforts of the team and local supporters, the desert surface will not be totally smooth, nor uniform. In contrast to previous salt flat locations commonly used for record breaking, BLOODHOUND’s attempts will be on ‘playa’ desert - mainly deposits of sand, silt and clay. Playas are among the flattest known landforms, where when filled with only a few centimetres of water, many kilometres of surface may be inundated. It is this process of inundation that develops and maintains the near-perfect flatness, so characteristic of these arid-region landforms. And, the playa has the additional benefit of cushioning the wheels at high speed, unlike harder salt deposits.

2018 Highlights

Therefore the ‘desert’ wheels have to be strong enough to withstand extreme rotational force, but also resistant to stone impact - a requirement that ruled out more brittle carbon fibre options.

Unlike with a conventional car, BLOODHOUND’s wheels don’t transmit power, and there is a relatively small steering requirement, so tyres aren’t needed. This is just as well, as the fastest tyred car reaches just 277mph.

However, tyres were needed for the runs on the hard runway at Newquay Airport. Bespoke ‘runway’ wheels were produced in 7075 aluminium, shod with Dunlop tyres designed for the Lightning supersonic fighter of the 1960s.

Aluminium consultant Innoval Technology has been involved from the beginning with the development of the ‘desert’ wheels. Working with Lockheed Martin, Innoval conducted a series of tests looking at the damage caused by high speed particles, and initially recommended using the aerospace alloy AA7075.

Further research revealed that even stronger aluminium alloys for large aircraft forgings had been developed, and Innoval finally settled on AA7037 aluminium-zinc alloy from Otto Fuchs, who could also produce the large

diameter forgings suitable for wheel manufacture.

In the forging process the aluminium was heated to more than 390°C, moulded into discs with a 3,668 tonne hot press, and then a 20,000 tonne cold press to produce a simple round (but large) ‘cheese’ shape. The next stage was for each wheel to be milled into the final design by Castle Precision Engineering. Each wheel weighs 95kg and has a diameter of 910mm.

In South Africa next October the car will run for the first time with its solid aluminium wheels, specially designed for the desert surface. Designed to spin at up to 10,200 rpm – more than four times faster than wheels on an F1 car at top speed - the wheels have a V-shaped keel, which digs into the playa surface by 25mm when the car is stationary.

As speeds increase, the wheels will rise up out of the mud surface and plane in much the same way as a speedboat rides up on the surface of the water.

At 500 mph (804 kmh) and above, just a few millimetres of metal will be in contact with the desert surface, and the giant aluminium discs will act more like rudders than the wheels on a conventional car.

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Leading-edge innovations fuel transformation of global auto industry In an ever-evolving global economy, the landscape of automotive consumer demand is changing at a rapid pace, underpinned by increasingly stringent government standards for safety, fuel economy and environmental impact. For automakers, staying competitive has never been more critical.

By Pierre Labat* In response, global automotive suppliers are dedicating significant resources to research and development of products that are lighter and more fuel-efficient, thus reducing emissions without compromising performance, design, safety and strength. Novelis leverages aluminium’s unique properties to deliver sustainable lightweighting solutions for automakers designing vehicles that are highly appealing to consumers while meeting or exceeding strict government standards.

Novelis is the only aluminium supplier with automotive sheet production capabilities in all three major autoproducing regions – Asia, Europe and North America. The company works alongside its customers at every step, from program development to launch, creating

new products and processes to meet the industry’s needs.

But how do you plan to meet those needs in an industry that is evolving based on consumer preferences and changing government proposals on fuel economy?

The strict corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) requirements for passenger cars to achieve 54 miles per gallon by 2025 set forth by the Obama Administration, prompted automakers to build more fuelefficient cars. To do that, many automakers including Ford Motor Company, turned to aluminium as an innovative solution to lightweight vehicles. Ford went as far as making its best-selling F-150 pick-up truck an aluminium intensive vehicle, shedding 700 pounds, achieving best-in-class fuel economy and a five-star safety rating.

However, the current administration has

proposed significantly rolling back those standards in the US, potentially giving automakers less incentive to lightweight vehicles. Which leads to the question, will lightweighting remain relevant moving forward?

In short, the answer is “yes.” While a rollback of CAFE standards in the US could prompt a change in thinking, automakers must still think globally. As China and Europe, the largest automotive markets, move aggressively toward a zero emissions future, automakers will need to build with lightweight materials such as aluminium to adhere to stricter standards.

In addition, consumer preference for large trucks and sport utility vehicles that are lighter, perform better and include more in-vehicle technology are projected to drive sales.

*Vice President, Global Automotive for Novelis Inc. Aluminium International Today

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32 AUTOMOTIVE

Lightweighting – the future of mobility and sustainability As fuel economy standards, safety regulations and consumer preferences motivate automakers to pursue lighterweight vehicles; advanced aluminium alloys offer a comprehensive solution for internal combustion engines as well as the emerging electric vehicle (EV) market. A World Energy Council study finds that by 2020, one out of six cars sold in the world will have to be electric-powered in order to meet evolving emissions standards. For internal combustion engines, hybrids and other alternative fuel vehicles, aluminium is highly effective. In all instances, where aluminium is integrated in parts of an automobile’s structure in place of steel, weight reduction of hundreds of pounds is routinely achieved without compromising safety, agility or strength.

Some may argue that lightweighting is less important for EVs, but in fact reducing weight is key for electric vehicles, not only for vehicle performance (driving dynamics, crash performance) but also for the cost. Hofer Engineering GmbH, a leading developer for electric powertrains, conducted a study to assess the impact of car weight on energy consumption for a range of models, from compact cars to SUVs. They developed a realistic driving cycle of a total 340 km, on highways, cities and hills. The results showed that 100kg of weight savings can help save 1kWH/100km, which would be equivalent to approximately 560EUR of battery cost savings for an electric vehicle with a range of 500km. Based on that, weight savings

2018 Highlights

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would cost less than six EUR/kg saved, which is economically attractive for EVs. Using aluminium to lightweight electric vehicles allows them to run farther on a single charge. This helps ease the concern of “battery range anxiety” which has been a significant barrier for new car buyers considering EVs. Aside from enhanced mileage achieved by lighter-weight automobiles, aluminium has a clear advantage in strength-toweight ratio compared to other materials.

Its superior energy absorption properties contribute to overall safety as it can be designed to fold predictably during a crash with the ability to absorb twice the level of energy as steel.

An example of this material substitution is the 2018 Jeep® Wrangler, which now incorporates lightweight, high-strength aluminium in place of steel parts used in prior models. This material substitution was done mostly in closure applications, which include doors, fenders, swing gates and windshield framing. The adoption of more aluminium in the design achieved a 200 pound weight reduction, enhanced the SUV’s performance and agility, and boosted fuel economy by approximately three miles per gallon. The switch to aluminium helped make it the most capable and fuel efficient Wrangler ever produced.

Investing to meet demand According to a Ducker Worldwide study, aluminium adoption in cars and light trucks in North America is projected to reach 565 pounds per vehicle by 2028 up

from approximately 390 pounds in 2015.

Globally, automotive aluminium demand is projected to nearly triple over the next eight years with the largest growth potential in China, as both domestic and global automakers increase aluminium penetration and production.

As the market leader, Novelis has a responsibility to its customers to invest in capacity in time to meet demand by providing ready-access to critical aluminium supply stocks. Earlier this year, the company announced new investments totaling $480 million on two major strategic initiatives. The first was a $300 million aluminium sheet manufacturing plant in Guthrie, Kentucky that will encompass 400,000 square feet and the capacity to produce as much as 200 kilotonnes of automotive aluminium sheet beginning in 2020. The second was a $180 million expansion that will double the automotive aluminium body sheet manufacturing capacity of its Changzhou, China facility. The company is investing in a continuous annealing solution heat treatment line that will add approximately 100 kilotonnes of capacity to plant operations.

Leading through technology As witnessed in other industries, technology is changing the automotive world at an unprecedented pace.

Alternative fuel vehicles and autonomous cars are creating new segments within the global automotive market. When combined with vehicle concepts that are in various stages of testing and design, and others that are still on the drawing board, the marketplace is being redefined in-depth.

The definition of a vehicle itself is also changing and companies throughout the manufacturing supply chain must innovate if they are to survive – and thrive – in a consumer environment that increasingly demands greater options for technology, fuel-efficiency and higher performing vehicles.

To that end, 40 percent of Novelis’ annual research and development budget is devoted to innovating solutions for automakers. The company’s engineers, metallurgists, chemists and scientists are constantly seeking high-strength, highlyformable lightweighting solutions such as the 6000 and 7000 series alloys that enhance the structural integrity of vehicles and improve performance.

Through ongoing work at its global R&D facilities, the company is the automotive industry’s standard bearer for aluminium innovation. Novelis’ research and development team has been granted 140 automotive-specific patents, with additional applications pending.

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Fostering collaboration With more than 40 years of experience in the automotive industry, and recognizing each new vehicle model presents a unique challenge to manufacturers, Novelis has a rich history of innovation in customercentric partnerships that have been integral in making generations of new automobiles a reality.

In partnership with Ford and Jaguar Land Rover, Novelis created revolutionary closed-loop recycling systems that take back aluminium scrap from each company and insert it directly into the supply chain for manufacturing into the same products from which they were derived. The results are remarkable. For example, in a single month, Ford reclaims enough aluminium scrap to produce an additional 30,000 F-150 truck bodies.

Novelis’ Customer Solution Centers being developed in Detroit and Shanghai will further foster collaborative efforts with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), suppliers and other automotive industry partners in making next-generation vehicles a reality. That work will include reimagining the role of aluminium in their products more rapidly, as well as designing the best solution at the right cost.

This thinking is embedded in the Novelis culture and drives a partnership model

that balances the need for long-term fundamental research with close connection to the strategic plans of the businesses that use its products and services.

The future Lightweighting and the adoption of more aluminium into vehicle design will remain a part of the industry’s future. Mobility will shape the way we embrace technology and allow for higher

performance alloys with better joining capabilities. Those innovations and the capacity to deliver consistent quality products on a global scale will benefit automakers as they allocate more time and resources to electrification, connectivity and autonomy. But it won’t happen in a silo. The aluminium industry will need to collaborate in order to maximize the benefits of aluminium and accelerate its adoption. �

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2018 Highlights

34 ROLLING

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Assan Alüminyum: Investing in high value-added products Assan Alüminyum, one of the three largest aluminium foil producers in Europe, continues to expand in the flat rolled aluminium industry, while keeping its focus on becoming more environmentally sustainable in all of its processes. The company produces new projects that reduce its waste and its energy consumption significantly each year. The company has acquired a renewable energy power plant two years ago, in order to reduce its carbon footprint. The in-house recycling facility also contributes to the company’s sustainability strategy.

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of its establishment this year, Assan Alüminyum, a subsidiary of Kibar Holding, has become one of the fastest growing flat rolled aluminium producers in Europe, with its installed capacity now reaching up to 300 thousand tons per year. The company exports to more than 70 countries and 4 continents, mainly to West Europe and to North America.

Short-term investments completed Assan Alüminyum has installed two new casting lines in record time that have started production in the first half of last year, and a state-of-the-art foil mill, which has started production at the end of 2017.

Five new coil and six new foil annealing furnaces and a world-class, high-precision grinding machine are also part of the completed investment.

A high-precision coil-to-coil aluminium slitting line has also been installed and complements the high-capacity coil coating line. With these new expansions, the company now has 19 continuous casting lines and 10 foil rolling mills.

Especially with the addition of the new foil rolling mill, the company is now able to concentrate more on high value-added flexible packaging products.

The General Manager of Assan Alüminyum, Göksal Güngör, who is also currently serving as the President of Global Aluminium Foil Rollers Initiative (GLAFRI) notes: “We firmly believe that aluminium, with its superior qualities such as lightness, excellent barrier properties, flexibility and durability, will play a key role in the future of many other industries.

Therefore, while we monitor the current situation of global trade closely, we see 2018 Highlights

this as temporary and continue to invest in the bright, sustainable future that our industry promises the world. Our 1500 dedicated employees are the ones who give us the strength to expand further with no hesitations.” The company offers its products to a variety of sectors such as packaging, distribution, construction, consumer durables, automotive and HVAC.

Striving to become more global Assan Alüminyum has recently established its fully owned subsidiary, Kibar Americas, in Chicago, Illinois, through which the company aims to serve its North American customers. While through Kibar Americas, Assan Alüminyum currently provides services such as sales, supply chain, before and after sales technical support, it is also evaluating opportunities to grow in the Aluminium International Today

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North American market in the medium term. Güngör states: “We differentiate ourselves through our core values of reliability, flexibility and innovation. With our global culture, we work closely with our business partners, providing them with creative, tailor-made solutions, to become their localized solution partner. Hence our motto: Creating the Future Together, as our team is only complete when our business partners are also part of it.”

A new large-scale investment being planned out In addition to its recently completed investments, the company is currently planning a large-scale investment, consisting of a direct chill (DC), hot rolling facility. The negotiations are ongoing for this investment project, which is estimated to have a total value of 900 million dollars and to accommodate approximately 650 additional employees. This new facility aims to serve strategic industries, such as defense, aerospace, marine and other transportation and specialized packaging.

The investment also includes an integrated port and R&D Center. With the ability of

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producing high-grade alloys, the company will be able to create further added-value through high performance products.

Innovative and open for change The company’s focus on Research & Development (R&D) is also a significant contributing factor to its consistently high customer satisfaction and continuing growth trend. Assan Alüminyum’s officially certified R&D Center is dedicated to continuous progress through process innovations, which sheds light on the industry through many papers and proceedings published and presented at specialised global conferences throughout the years.

Most of the R&D projects are triggered by customer requests and expectations, ultimately developing customised and better-performing products for its customers. With its strong R&D, the company aims to reinforce its position as one of the global pioneers in the continuous casting technology, both in terms of production capacity and technical know-how.

Uses renewable energy While half of the world’s population lives in cities, increased manufacturing as a result of excess consumption rapidly exhausts the world’s resources. Renewable energy plays an ever more significant role in effort to leave a better world for future generations.

As the company’s sustainability principle of “producing the future, without wasting it” suggests, Assan Alüminyum constantly reduces its carbon footprint by producing less waste, less emissions and less energy.

The company produces new projects that reduce its waste generation and its energy consumption significantly each year. The company also aims to become more environmentally sustainable by producing renewable energy, in the power plant it has acquired two years ago, at a rate that is equivalent to its electrical energy consumption in both of its production facilities. � 2018 Highlights

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Production trumps safety For every day that goes by, valued manufacturers look for opportunities to lead the way in their industry – not just for tomorrow – but in five or 10 years from now.

Such companies will stay up-to-date on the latest advancements in equipment technology and industry best practices, while continuously seeking innovative solutions to help their original equipment manufacturers (OEM) customers efficiently develop better products. They also support employee skills development through training programs that address business acumen, industry and equipment knowledge as well as personal development.

This type of forward-thinking mind set can take companies beyond simply meeting customer needs. It will parlay to seeking improvements in all areas of a business, from the front office and shipping, to information systems and manufacturing technology.

In reality, however, efforts such as these may actually look and feel completely different to the manufacturing employees responsible for production. The employees working here might tell a different story. They may be required to produce high volumes within unreasonably tight timeframes or work mandatory overtime during the boom-times.

It can be worse too. Some employees might choose to put off a machine’s preventative maintenance schedule or rig a temporary fix until a new part arrives to repair a broken mechanical piece. The 2018 Highlights

often-felt mantra in manufacturing is to keep production running – no matter what.

Working environments are either safe, or they are not safe. Which environment do your employees work in? Do your customers’ needs trump the safety of your employees, or do you look for new ways to increase company performance while ensuring the well being for your employees?

The choices we make Not long ago, Alexandria Industries, a U.S. manufacturing company with aluminium extrusion, fabrications and finishing services, focused its efforts on where the company wanted its health and safety programs to go in the future. For starters, leadership needed to conduct a selfassessment of where the company stood with the number of safety incidents.

After evaluating the types of injuries occurring and understanding why they were happening, company safety leaders realized they needed to do something

differently. The current program was not cutting it.

Having previously investigated behaviour-based safety training programs, leadership was undecided on which direction to go with a new safety program.

Should the company develop its own program, materials, tracking systems, and training, or look for a ready-made, proven Aluminium International Today

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based safety program. After researching the pros and cons of multiple programs, they selected the Dupont Safety Training Observation Program® (STOP).

STOP and make it right The STOP program has multiple parts.

First, it reinforces the idea that leaders are accountable for the safety of their employees, while empowering employees to acknowledge that they have a responsibility to keep themselves and their co-workers safe. The first lesson is to learn to make safe choices and a safe work environment part of the company’s culture.

Featuring a three-part approach, the STOP program focuses on self-study, field and application activities, and group discussions. It teaches individual safety concepts and skills-development, and ways to practice safety habits in work areas. It includes discussing the “application of safety practices” with colleagues, focusing on peer-to-peer interaction and teaching.

Through the program’s integration and application, Alexandria Industries was able to build up its safety observation and communication skills. It led company leaders and team members to have constructive discussions among each other about safe and unsafe work practices.

program? Which method would be costeffective and efficient, in terms of the time it would take to implement a new program and train all of the employees?

After deciding to develop it own program, leaders quickly recognised that this was going to be a cumbersome and time-consuming process. They realized they needed an existing, proven behaviourAluminium International Today

employees to make safe choices is helping the company lead the way in enabling its employees to identify all unsafe acts and conditions. Not just at work, but at home too. The company’s leadership works with employees to resolve any safety issues.

The safety and well being of employees is priority number-one. The Dupont STOP safety program empowers employees to make the right choices when it comes to safety. It also empowers leadership to provide their employees with the tools they need to make safe choices. STOP helps ensure employee well being always comes first.

Everyone has the right to work in a

safe environment. The majority of us take precious time away from our families to work. If companies want to ensure employees can go back to their families in the same way they came to work, safe and unhurt, they need to STOP and put safety ahead of production. �

Injury prevention A key tenet of the STOP program is the belief that workers can prevent all injuries.

Going through the training, the company learned that the program teaches employees how to help prevent injuries from happening if they know how to identify, communicate and correct any unsafe acts or conditions. It puts emphasis on the employees, as it is up to every team member to make good safety choices.

The health and well being of a company’s employees has to be the top priority. For Alexandria Industries, setting a goal for 2018 Highlights

38 PROJECTS & PRODUCTS The aluminium industry is constantly embarking on new projects and developing new products. In this regular feature, Aluminium International Today presents the latest announcements in these areas.

If you’d like the opportunity to be considered for publication, please contact: nadinebloxsome@quartzltd.com

GHI supplies world’s biggest rotary tilting furnace for aluminium recycling

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Impol awards final acceptance to SMS group for modernised aluminium cold rolling mill After successful modernisation of the 40-yearold aluminium cold rolling mill by SMS group at the Slovenska Bistrica facility, the Slovenian aluminium producer Impol Group Slovenia has awarded the final acceptance to SMS group.

The previously performed acceptance tests had proven that the rolled products are now fulfilling even stricter quality criteria.

With this upgrade, Impol Group Slovenia has invested in the future viability of the facility and has brought about significant improvements of the cold rolling mill’s capability. The strip width and thickness range was enlarged and the maximum coil weight increased. By new setting and control systems, strip quality was improved, particularly regarding the achievement of closer thickness and flatness tolerances. A new strip

Mechatherm serves JW Aluminum

The furnace is in operation at Befesa Asua, one of the most important aluminium recycling companies in Europe.

The furnace, with a capacity of 65 tons, exceeds 30 percent the previous record, established

by GHI with its supply to Fracsa Alloys located in Mexico. The new furnace, the current one, is also a considerable size equipment, since it weighs about 150 tons, is 8.5 metres long and 5.5 metres high, uses natural gas and oxygen as fuel and reaches working temperatures of up to 1,000 degrees Celsius. The furnace will improve the costs per ton as it replaces a fixed-axis equipment with higher salt consumption and lower energy efficiency.

In addition, it will be sensorised, which will provide the basis for designing a management model of the installation in which the “eye and expertise” of the operator loses weight in decision-making.

Highlights 2018

JW Aluminum of Goose Creek, South Carolina has awarded Mechatherm the contract to supply a complete scrap recycling solution for producing 660,000,000 lbs/annum (300,000T/Annum) of aluminium sheet products.

The Input feed material is coming in various forms of market grade contaminated aluminium scrap of up to 15% non-metallics in loose and bale form.

To remelt this scrap Mechatherm will supply 4 off 310,000lb (140T) Capacity Static “Multi-Chamber” Contaminated Scrap De-coating Melting Furnaces fired with Bloom ‘Lumiflame’ natural gas regenerative burners rated for 27,500 lbs/hr (12.5T/Hr) melting rate. Each melting furnace is designed to feed the supplied Mechatherm holding/casting furnaces with metal to feed the continuous casting process. The supplied melting furnace technology will receive the contaminated scrap and utilise energy from pyrolyzed VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds) by destroying them by incineration. This technology increases the overall furnace efficiency by reducing gas consumption and minimising toxic emissions sent to the fume treatment plans for final clean-up.

Lorin announces superior physical characteristics in coil anodised aluminium products Lorin Industries, Inc., has announced the superior physical characteristics of coil anodised aluminium, providing greater durability and aesthetics than other metal products.

The coil anodising process pioneered by Lorin protects aluminium from oxidation, scratching, and other hazards far better than natural oxidising, and offers far greater protection than is available for other metals.

blow-off system minimises oil residues and provides a homogeneous strip surface.

OTTO JUNKER launches its first mobile application

Already, in many renowned extrusion plants the JunkerDynamicHeater® MC has evolved into something like a gold standard. Wherever extrusion billets need to be heated to the metal forming temperature in a reliable and energy-efficient manner with maximum temperature accuracy, the JunkerDynamicHeater® MC delivers convincing performance. Customers all over the world appreciate especially the flexibility achieved

by Otto Junker GmbH in optimising this system for each application situation.

PROJECTS & PRODUCTS 39

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Partnership announced

Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan inaugurates Ducab Aluminium Company in Khalifa Industrial Zone His Highness Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court, recently inaugurated Ducab Aluminium Company (DAC) in the Khalifa Industrial Zone of Abu Dhabi (KIZAD) as a joint venture between Ducab, the UAE-based leading manufacturer of high-quality cables and cabling products, and

Senaat, one of the largest holding companies in the UAE’s industrial sector.

The new company is the result of an AED220 million (US$60 million) investment that seeks to strengthen the UAE’s industrial supply chain in line with the UAE strategy to champion industrial investments.

STAS has announced a new commercialisation partnership with HENCON, a world-wide supplier of Mobile Equipment for the heavy industries.

As of now, STAS becomes an exclusive agent for HENCON products for Canada.

STAS will ensure the promotion and sales of the HENCON delivery program of mobile and stationary equipment, including related spare parts and services.

For Canadian customers, this partnership ensures compliance with Canadian standards such as CSA while our geographic proximity guarantees a better service.

Can-Eng Furnaces selected for North American Expansion

Aludium Amorebieta orders multi chamber melting furnace from Hertwich Engineering The long-standing aluminium rolling mill in Amorebieta, Spain, which has been operating under the name Aludium since 2015, has ordered an Ecomelt-PS275 multi chamber-melting furnace with preheating shaft for clean and contaminated scrap from Hertwich Engineering, an SMS group company. This investment sees the plant adapting to the growing amount of recycled material available. The new multi chamber-melting furnace will go into operation in spring 2019.

Aluminium International Today

Can-Eng Furnaces International Limited was recently awarded a contract from an India based conglomerate to design, manufacture, install, and commission an Aluminium Automotive Casting Heat Treatment system for their new green field North American expansion in South Carolina.

Can-Eng was chosen for this project largely due to the unique Modular Design concept, which offers efficient product, process, and production flexibility for our partners new line of Die Cast Light Weight Aluminium Automotive Components. This Solution Treatment, Water Quench and Artificial Aging system are arranged to provide both T5, T6 and Homogenising Processes. The new system will service three distinct aluminium product groups with unique treatment cycles.

Highlights 2018