Located in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Benkam Alu Extrusions, part of AKFA Group, is the only major manufacturer of aluminum profiles in Central Asia. Launched by AKFA in 2015, Benkam is a dynamically evolving company that utilizes advanced technologies to meet internationally recognized standards (such as ISO). The company has a strong market presence in 15 countries across Europe, Central Asia, and other non-CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) countries. The company serves a variety of different sectors, including the construction, automotive, and energy industries. In 2022, Benkam supplied the European market with a sales volume of more than 3,000 tons.
As Benkam continues to develop, the company is expanding its scope, with the aim of supplying aluminum extrusions and finished systems to the North American market. According to a report published by IMARC Group, the U.S. aluminum extrusions market size reached 2.7 million tons in 2022 and is expected to reach 3.6 million tons by 2028—representing a 4.6% growth rate over that time period. According to AKFA, Benkam is positioned to be able to supply up to 1% of this forecast volume by 2028. Specifically, the company aims to focus on meeting demand from the architectural sector (windows and doors) and the automotive industry, which according to internal research conducted by AKFA is showing strong demand, particularly for complex extruded profiles used in the load-bearing parts of internal combustion engine and electric vehicles.
“The U.S. aluminum sector has always been an attractive market for us, and now Benkam is ready to enter the North American market, which has one of the largest consumption rates in the world,” said Mirolim Mirmukhsinov, regional manager of AKFA, who has been appointed to lead the development of the Benkam Alu Extrusions project in North America. “We did some research on the major aluminum extrusion players in the U.S. and found that the market is not fully saturated with custom-shape profile manufacturers. We believe we can serve this market well. Compared to competitors in the far West and also in parts of Asia, Benkam is able to provide comparably lower conversion costs. Also, as a member of the AKFA Group, we are able to not only provide aluminum profiles, but finished, ready-to-install systems for building and construction projects.”
Since 2019, Benkam began exporting small amounts of architectural profiles to Canada and some automotive profiles to the U.S. In 2023, the company has also delivered a further 100 tons of custom-made aluminum profiles to North America. Currently, the company is working to maximize the shipping volumes that can be delivered to the U.S. through the planned construction of a new facility with access to shipping ports and the opening of a representative and consulting office in the U.S. to support North American customers.
Current Capabilities
Benkam’s aluminum operations are housed in a 116,000 sq m facility located in the Navoi FEZ territory, which is equipped with advanced aluminum production lines, including casting, extrusion, and finishing capabilities. Production capacity of the plant allows for the production of up to 36,000 tons of finished products per year.
The casting area includes four furnaces supplied by Huitai Technology Machine Co. Ltd. in China, including a 15 ton, a 30 ton, and two 35 ton regenerative aluminum melting furnaces, as well as three homogenization ovens. With its own internal recycling and casting lines, the company is able to better control alloy specifications, enabling the production of 115 tons of high-quality billet per month—not only in common standard alloys (6060, 6063, and 6082), but also alloys designed to meet specific customer needs.
The extrusion capabilities include fully automated, state-of-the-art press lines capable of supplying a variety of shapes for different industries, including large profiles for windows, doors, and façade systems. Two of the lines were supplied by Presezzi in Italy in 2015, including a 7 inch, 2,000 ton press and a 9 and 11 inch, 4,000 ton press. Four of the lines were supplied by SKM Co., Ltd. in South Korea in 2019, including a 4 inch, 1,000 ton press; a 5 inch, 1,000 ton press; and two 7 inch, 2,000 ton presses.
Each of these extrusion press lines is outfitted with an advanced OMAV handling system (Figure 1), including a billet heating system (furnace and saw), a runout system with an intensive profile cooling station, a profile stretcher, and a finishing saw. The extrusion area also includes five aging ovens from Sistem Makina in Turkey, which are able to age the profiles to T4, T5, and T6 tempers. The production chain is rounded out with three automated packing lines from Italian company emmebi.
Finishing capabilities include an automated line for anodizing and electro-coloring aluminum profiles, with 38 tanks (Figure 2), from Monti Engineering S.R.L. in Italy; two automated vertical powder coating lines from SAT in Italy; and four sublimation lines for decorating profiles with a wood-grain appearance from S.E.F. Italia S.R.L. in Italy. The company’s fabrication capabilities include cut-off and cut-out work, deburring, joint and surface machining preparation for welding, weld dressing, fine grinding, texturing, and polishing.
Quality control is a key factor in the success of Benkam’s aluminum extrusion business. To that end, the company works to meet international standards, including EN AW6060, EN AW6063, and EN AW6061. Following internal research showing strong demand in the automotive sector, the company is in the final stages of obtaining IATF 16949 certification, which will enable the production of automotive products for the North American market. Moreover, the company is also working to achieve the Aluminum Stewardship Initiative (ASI) standards to demonstrate its commitment to environmental and social sustainability.
Moving Forward
In order to achieve its goal of serving the North American market, Benkam is making moves to expand its operations to provide improved export services and other support. In the long term, this includes the construction of a new facility in a strategic location outside of Uzbekistan that can provide easier access to shipping ports, as well as housing two new Presezzi 7 and 8 inch, 2,000 ton extrusion presses (which were initially ordered in 2021).
“Since Uzbekistan is a double landlocked country with no sea access, it is a little tough for us to compete in a global supply chain when trying to reach the far West, which prompted us to think about opening a new factory in a location with easy access to the sea,” said Mirmukhsinov. “We have already made a list of potential locations where we could set up a new factory, including Georgia, Turkey, or Kazakhstan. All three countries present pros and cons, and we are carefully considering our options.”
In the short term, Benkam is finalizing the process of setting up a regional representative office in the U.S. Listed under the name AKFA USA LLC, the office will provide consulting services to the North American market and will become a project carrier on window solutions and fully-assembled storefront doors, cladding, and façade systems. The new office will be officially opened after the ALUMINUM USA show in Nashville, TN, on October 25-26. “Our project development team is already working to modify our existing line of window and door systems to bring them in line with the standards of the U.S. and Canadian markets,” noted Mirmukhsinov. “We expect to have the results of this project completed by the end of this year.”
Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the October 2023 issue of Light Metal Age. To receive the current issue, please subscribe.