Moscow, December 24. The production capacity of aluminium rolling mills in Russia today allows for an output of up to 480 thousand tonnes per year. This capacity is being utilised to almost 80%, which indicates a lack of capacity for the proper development of the rolled aluminium production sector. Meanwhile, the quality of the capacity available is also often not up to par with modern requirements. Such were the findings presented at the closing 2018 meeting of the Mechanical Engineering sector of the Aluminium Association.
During the meeting, it was also noted that the market of mill products in Russia continued to show the positive trend in 2018: a total of 377 thousand tonnes of products were made and the output was up by 3 percent as compared to 2017. Globally, the mill products sector grew by 3-5%, primarily in response to growing demand in the automotive industry, growing foil production, and growing demand for aluminium cans.
Summing up the results of work in the mechanical engineering sector, the meeting participants noted the importance for the industry in 2018 of the implementation of such projects as the construction in Krasnoyarsk of two aluminium bridges, and, in the shipbuilding field, the creation of new aluminium superstructures for the Peter the Great cruise-liner and dry cargo seiners. Some important projects in the field of railroad car engineering should also be noted: the signing of a contract to deliver 200 aluminium hopper cars and the engineering of a new alloy for tanker cars for transporting concentrated nitric acid, as well as the manufacture of trams with an aluminium interior.
In mechanical engineering, 2019 will see continued efforts to promote import substitution and localise production, replace more materials with aluminium, and engineer new alloys, as well as efforts to introduce new standards and state regulations.