Aluminum Association statistics show that primary production accounts for only about 15% of the aluminum the U.S. produces on an annual basis. This means domestic recycling represents the lion’s share of aluminum production, with recycling production reaching a record high of 3.6 million tonnes in 2024—numbers that will surely increase moving forward.1 And in employment, […]
international patents
-
-
Editor’s Note: As daily reported in worldwide news media, business activity in automotive aluminum is facing big challenges with yoyo-like tariffs that threaten aluminum producers, parts manufacturers, and eventual customers. Markets as well as jobs are at risk, not to mention rising product costs, with car and truck buyers most likely to pay for the […]
-
Editor’s Note: What a difference in business perspective for U.S. aluminum in general and the aluminum extrusion market in particular that a few months make! From April to May last year, during ET ’24 when all signs pointed up, with the global and U.S. aluminum extrusion market expected to grow significantly in the future and […]
-
Editor’s Note: Light Metal Age has repeatedly published articles on bauxite residue (red mud), including the highly informative February 2024 article by Alton Taberaeux that described some of the latest trends in red mud processing.1 This editorial and selection of patents on red mud valorization supplements this archive, as the field of coping with the […]
-
Editor’s Note: According to various analytical studies of the global market for aluminum sheet and strip (<1 mm, 1-6 mm, and >6 mm), there is good news for this year and the coming decade. Global demand for aluminum sheet products by the B&C, transportation, packaging, and consumer products segments is already set to achieve a […]
-
Editor’s Note: It is widely understood that vehicle mass reduction is influenced by government regulations, consumer preferences, costs (material, processing, and operational), fuel prices, OEM objectives that require specific physical and mechanical properties of use, and cradle-to-gate initiatives. Considering U.S. government initiatives, the Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE) supports all technologies for […]
-
Editors Note: In a new life cycle assessment report available for download, the Aluminum Association states that, from 1991 to 2022, the energy and carbon impact of primary aluminum production in North America has declined by 49% while that of recycled aluminum production dropped by 60%. This 157 page report analyzed data from over 100 […]
-
Editors Note: In case you missed it, every April since 1996 has been designated as “National Welding Month” by the American Welding Society. As I have been working on this column this April, it was appropriate to focus on what has become a game changing welding process for metals in general and light metals in […]
-
Editor’s Note: As the official media sponsor of ET ’24, LMA published a special January 2024 issue devoted to aluminum extrusion technology and breaking extrusion news for readers to “Get Ready for ET ’24.” In that issue the focus of our patent review was on aluminum extrusion design aimed at optimizing requirements for a wide […]