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Johnson Controls, a global leader in building efficiency, announced the new LX Series of air conditioners and heat pumps by York, its leading air conditioning, heating, refrigeration, and ventilating company. They feature a MicroChannel coil with enhanced heat transfer characteristics, enabling them to achieve the desired performance levels with less coil surface area than competitive condensers and up to 50 percent less refrigerant. The units are available with environmentally friendly R-410A refrigerant as well as R-22. 14.5 SEER LX Series air conditioners use a compressor blanket and swept-wing fan blade for quieter operation. 15+ SEER can be achieved when the air conditioner is matched with a variable-speed air handler or gas furnace. A fully louvered steel coil guard, corner posts and a polymer mesh protect the condensing coils from damage. The unit’s heavy-duty cabinet is made of powder-painted steel that resists corrosion and rust creep.\n\n\n\n\nIn addition, the MicroChannel coil offers better galvanic corrosion resistance than conventional coils. In testing, the coil withstood 7,000 hours of salt spray with a higher success rate than conventional coils at just 1,000 hours, making the units particularly desirable for seacoast applications, reveals the company’s press release.\n\n
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Two Japanese companies are working together to develop carbon fiber materials for use in cars, according to a Reuters report. Toray Industries (3402.T) and Mitsubishi Rayon (3404.T) hope to mass produce the lightweight material by 2010 in an effot to make vehicles 40% lighter and up to 30% more fuel efficient. They also intend to develop technology to recycle carbon fiberin order to bring costs down. For years, proponents of carbon fiber materials have supported its widespread use in vehicles, but the cost of the highly engineered materials was prohibitive. Now with gasoline and steel prices on the rise, carbon fiber is becoming more economically feasible. The Nikkei business daily reported that Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. were participating in the partnership, along with Toyobo Takagi Seiko Corp and researchers from the University of Tokyo. However, both Nissan and Honda denied that they were participating in the project. A spokeswomam for Japan's New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization said teh government is also researching the further use of aluminum and other light-weight metals to replace steel.
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"In my personal opinion, most plants are unlikely to actually cut back because of profit factors. The smelters agreed to cut back mainly because of tight power and high power costs, but for some, supply is not much affected, only costs have gone up. But the cost of shutting down and restarting might be even higher than the increased power prices," a source from Shaanxi Tongchuan aluminum said July 11. A source from Chuangyuan aluminum said, "We also signed the agreement, but that's just a piece of paper; there is no definite ruling to say we must cut output. We have no plans to cut output at the moment or in the short term, but we may consider cutting back in the future." The Chuangyuan source also cited the power versus shutdown cost ratioand noted that in any case the company has its own power plant. "We don't expect many of the other smelters at the meeting to cut either, including Chalco ... everyone will wait and see," he said. "Domestic prices have risen slightly, but mainly affected by the rise on the LME yesterday - there seems to be little fundamental impact within China itself," an analyst from Beijing Antaike said July 11. "People are all very uncertain and maybe confused now since there are no definite details on what the cutbacks will be." A Chinese trader said domestic demand and trade activity were also expected to slow due to the Olympics, and those plants that actually shut may be able to restart in the fourth quarter, so the impact on domestic prices would be minimal.
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Despite a slowdown in the global economy and a softening in demand for aluminium rolled products in some regions, JSE-listed aluminium reroller Hulamin expected global demand to increase this year. CEO Alan Fourie on Tuesday commented that the company, which exported about 70% of its products, had seen some softening in demand for aluminium rolled products in some regions, but added that demand for these products was expected to grow by between 5% and 7% this year. "Obviously the slowdown of the [global] economy puts pressure on margins, it is an economic consequence, but we are still selling into a growing international market," he said. Locally, however, the softening economic climate was expected to impact on sales volumes for the second half of the year. However, Hulamin expected these high-value products to continue growing as a percentage of its sales in the next few years. Fourie noted that five years ago, these products equated to just over 50% of its sales volumes, while their contribution was just below 60% in 2007. They now comprised about 64% of its total sales volumes. Meanwhile, Hulamin stated that its costs had increased by 16%, influenced by a 58% increase in energy costs, increasing alloying costs caused by magnesium prices rising from $2 000/t to $4 500/t, and increases in other metals. Excluding the cost of increasing energy and metals prices, the company's costs had increased by 6%. Fourie noted that while the rising aluminium costs did not affect its profitability, it did have an effect on its working capital. "We hold aluminium in our working capital. So when the aluminium price increases, the cash tied up in working capital increases and we have seen a significant increase in working capital during this period, because the rand price of aluminium has increased by close to 40% in the last six months," he explained. Further, Fourie did not expect the increasing electricity prices to have too great an impact on its future results.
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Aluminum may have been responding to two different events in the week ending July 11 when it hit a succession of all-time price highs , but the market remains divided over the medium-term direction, given that world fundamentals point to weak demand and rising stock levels. \n\nFundamentally, however, analysts and market players were mixed in their impressions of whether the price could be sustained, especially as word emerged from China that the cuts may not be a certainty. \n\nAluminum finished floor trade for the week at $3,318/mt, up $150 from the July 4 closing price of $3,168. Fundamentally, however, analysts and market players were mixed in their impressions of whether the price could be sustained, especially as word emerged from China that the cuts may not be a certainty. \n\nPointed out a US broker, "When you hear producers [in China] are shutting production because demand is weak, that's normally bearish," yet the market saw "insane" price moves. "I hear metal just continues to pour into warehouses, and not all of it reported, obviously, [since] otherwise you'd see it in the stock numbers. A lot is going off warrant," he pointed out. \n\n\n
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