Trafilerie Carlo Gnutti S.p.A., an extruder of brass products in Italy, is moving back into the aluminum extrusion market. The company is revamping its existing 60 MN direct extrusion press in order to produce extruded aluminum profiles for the automotive, aircraft, pneumatics, and oil and gas sectors.
Founded in 1947, Trafilerie Carlo Gnutti began with the production of semi-finished products in brass and aluminum. As part of a strategic move aimed at concentrating resources, the company ceased manufacturing aluminum in 1968, focusing instead on the brass market where it became a key player.
The company operates a 367,550 sq m manufacturing site, housing a casthouse, extrusion, drawing (bar and wire), and cold rolling departments for brass products. With this latest investment the company will now be returning to the aluminum market.
The upgrade of the extrusion press performed by Danieli Breda will involve increasing the force to 70 MN, enabling the extrusion of aluminum in the indirect mode with a piercer. It will also include the installation of special oil hydaulic systems along with BreDanEx automation and smart engineering solutions that will enable flexible production for a wide product mix. The transformation will allow the Trafilerie Carlo Gnutti technical team to extrude round and hexagonal aluminum bars and pipes (in 2000, 6000, and 7000 series alloys) with the same excellent quality that the company maintains for copper and brass products.
The upgraded extrusion press will be relocated to the company’s Urago d’Oglio plant and will begin operation by second quarter of 2021.