2. Contents:
1. Part I :
a. Introduction
b. How It All Started?
c. Properties
d. Production Processes
e. Lifecycle
f. Applications
g. Grades
2. Part II : Market Analysis
a. Production
â—Ź Leading producers: Countries
â—Ź Leading Producers: Companies
â—Ź World VS China
b. Consumers
c. Reason for Demand
d. Predicted Consumption
e. Supply/ Demand Balance
f. Pricing of Aluminium
g. Overproduction
3. Part III : Comparison Al VS Steel
a. Comparison
b. Shift from Steel to Al
c. Aluminium Weight Advantage
4. Part IV:
a. Hazards and Disadvantages
b. Limitations
c. Recent Developments
d. Future Aspects
3. Introduction
• Aluminium is a chemical element in the boron group
• Symbol Al and atomic number 13.
• Silvery-white, soft, nonmagnetic, ductile metal.
• Third most abundant element in the Earth's crust (after oxygen and silicon) and
most abundant metal.
• Makes up about 8% of the crust by mass
• Highly chemically reactive that native specimens are rare and limited
• Found in combined form in over 270 different minerals.
• Chief ore is bauxite.
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Part I:
4. How It All Started?
• It can easily binds with other elements, so its pure form does not occur in nature.
This is the reason that people learned about it relatively recently.
• Discovery of aluminium was made possible when scientists were able to use
electricity to break down chemical compounds into their elements.
• In the 19 century the Danish physicist Christian Oersted used electrolysis to obtain
aluminium.
• Electrolysis or electrolytic reduction is the process that is used to produce
aluminium today as well.
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Part I:
6. Production Process:
Aluminum is produced in three stages as follows:
1. Mining: In first stage the bauxite ore is mined and cleaned.
2. Refining: In the second stage,alumina is refined from the ore using Bayer’s
process
3. Smelting: The last and final stage in aluminum production is smelting the
alumina into aluminum.
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Part I:
8. Applications:
Major industries were aluminium is used:
• Transportation
• Packaging
• Consumer Goods
• Construction
• Electrical Engineering
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Part I:
20. • The global aluminium market is struggling with an oversupply crisis. Skyrocketing aluminium output
growth, predominantly in China, has led to a global crisis and market overheating.
• The World Bureau of Metal Statistics estimated aluminium overproduction in January and February
2013 at 317,100 tonnes, despite a fairly rapid increase in demand by 472,000 to 7.6 million tonnes
over the same period.
• An aluminium overproduction crisis is now impacting the prices negatively. Around 25% of the global
aluminium capacity is losing money, which is forcing producers to slash output and shut down
inefficient capacity
• Despite a reduction in prices caused by a crisis in overproduction, the outlook for 2013 remains
positive. The global consumption has increased by 6% in 2013 to 50 million tonnes.
• The constant upward trend is accounted for by the fact that aluminium is the metal of progress.
State-of-the-art developments in the motor industry, construction, electric engineering, aircraft
industry and creation of new gadgets all involve the application of aluminium.
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Part II: Market Analysis
Supply-Demand Balance (cont.)
21. Pricing of Primary Aluminium
The major trading centers of aluminium in the world
are
1. London Metal Exchange (LME)
2. Tokyo Commodity Exchange (TOCOM)
3. Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE)
4. New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX)
In India, aluminium is also traded at various
commodity exchanges namely Multi Commodity
Exchange of India and National Multi Commodity
Exchange of India
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Part II: Market Analysis
23. • The persistent and dramatic overproduction of aluminum in China is distorting the
market and hurting global producers.
• In 2000, China produced only about 11% of the world’s primary aluminum. Now, it
produces more than half.
• This production capacity resulted from government policies rather than process
improvements or lower input costs. Also by subsidizing energy and its support for
overproduction squeezes the profit of global aluminium firms.
• In fact, of the 50 highest-cost aluminum smelters in the world, 37 are located in
China. Also the average operating costs exceeds that of chinese smelters.
• China’s government has been subsidizing aluminum smelters through direct grants,
interest free loans and other “incentive” mechanisms.
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Part II: Market Analysis
Overproduction (cont.)
24. Comparison
PROPERTY STEEL / STAINLESS STEEL ALUMINIUM
1 Strength Strong Weak but some alloys are stronger than
steel
2 Weight Heavy Light
3 Color Silver It ranges from silvery to dull gray,
depending on the surface roughness.
4 Stiffness Less stiffer compared to aluminum More stiffer
5 Corrosion Highly corrosive Less corrosive
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Part III: Comparison Al VS Steel
25. Comparison (cont.)
PROPERTY STEEL / STAINLESS STEEL ALUMINIUM
6 Thermal Conductivity Lower(50.2 W/m-K) Higher(205 W/m-K)
7 Cost Carbon and mild steel cheaper than aluminium Cheaper than stainless steel
8 Workability Harder and difficult to work with Soft and easier to cut
9 Effect on foods Stainless steel cookware is low in cost and
can be used at high heat, it is less reactive
Due to softness it is reactive, coated
aluminium can be used
Applications Roads, railways, other infrastructure,
appliances, buildings, transportation,
aerospace, etc
Transportation, Packaging, Construction,
utensils, electric transmission lines, paint,
etc
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Part III: Comparison Al VS Steel
26. Shift from Steel to Aluminium underway in
the Automobile Industry
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Part III: Comparison Al VS Steel
28. Aluminium Hazards and drawbacks
• Workers who breathe aluminium containing dusts or aluminium fumes face
lung problems such as coughing. Also affecting their nervous system.
Disadvantages
• Far more expensive that steel.
• Limited to certain geometric features using economical processes.
• Abrasive to tooling (aluminum oxide is very abrasive).
• Difficult to weld.
• Prone to severe spring back
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Part IV:
29. Limitations
• High cost compared to Steel.
• Limited fatigue strength and creep resistance at elevated
temperature.
• High shrinkage (shrinkage porosity)
• High hydrogen solubility
• Susceptibility to hot cracking
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Part IV:
30. Recent Developments
• Competitors(novel steel, Mg, Ti, glass reinforced plastics)
• Age-hardening(Al-Mg-Si 6xx series, for more strength and good formability)
• Non-heat treatable Al-Mg-Mn alloys(for good surface appearance, thermal
stability, corrosion resistance)
• Castings(engine blocks, cylinder heads, special chassis parts).... High
requirement of strength and durability
• Extrusions
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Part IV:
31. Future aspects
Aluminium industry- New challenges
• Cleaner & sustainable means of transportation
• Customers demand of improved safety, comfort
…...
Researchers all over the world are continuing to develop new Al based alloy,
composite and nano-composites to further improve its properties
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Part IV: