Eccomelt executives recently attended the S&P Global Platts Aluminum Symposium between January 19 and 21, 2020. During the conference, we had the pleasure of meeting senior managers, analysts and investors of all facets of the aluminum industry. The symposium also served as an opportunity for us to discuss the company’s product, eccomelt356.2 an innovation in the aluminum industry, as an eco-friendly and sustainable substitute for primary aluminum (A356.2).
Dan Bitton, CEO of Eccomelt LLC, explains that “information shared at the Platt’s Symposium reinforced our view that we are in a new era of complexity, with growing geo-political tensions, which include trade wars, and the Middle East/Iran conflict. The resulting uncertainty may disrupt the consistency of aluminum supply, which points towards the importance of securing aluminum within your own continent. Also, higher societal expectations which lead to workers’ strikes all over the world, and technological advances, such as automation and electrification, self driving vehicles, and even uber, cause a disruption to the normal cycle of the automotive industry and contribute to supply disruptions and higher costs of production for primary aluminum. Unsurprisingly, Eccomelt LLC provides a solution, as the premier, low cost producer of a high quality A356.2 substitute alloy in North America.
Another of the hot topics at Platt’s was Elysis (“carbon free”) aluminum, created through a joint venture between Alcoa, Rio Tinto, Apple, and the Quebec government. Elysis is a zero-carbon footprint aluminum, which has been achieved in small quantities, but at an extremely high price for businesses. Conversely, Eccomelt LLC produces a sustainable, aluminum that has the lowest carbon footprint of any aluminum, and is extremely cost effective.
Big Topic – Electrification of Automobiles
Much discussion took place about the electrification of automobiles– the largest end-use market for aluminum in North America, and its impact on aluminum usage. Significantly different views were expressed on the speed and extent of the electrification, but all agreed that it will happen (whether with full electric vehicles or mainly hybrids), and most likely sooner than later. All agreed that engine and transmissions have traditionally been the main users of castings – so aluminum foundries and die casters are the most affected in the aluminum industry. It seems clear that full battery electric vehicles (BEVs) will use less and significantly different castings than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles; there were different opinions on whether hybrid vehicles will use less or potentially even more castings.
Hybrids seem to have, at least for the short term, a much higher potential for penetration than BEVs, as the development of a battery and charging infrastructure will certainly take several more years.
What is becoming clearer is that the recycled vehicles contain different types of scrap than what is needed to produce the newer vehicles, therefore a reduction in demand for secondary ingots is anticipated. On the other hand, there is an increase in demand for low carbon footprint, secondary alloys and improved technologies that enables increased recycling content in traditionally “primary alloy” type components (like safety critical/structural parts). Eccomelt356.2 is an excellent example of how pure and clean recycled aluminum with the lowest possible carbon footprint of any aluminum is being used to produce such high quality (safety critical/structural) components.
Introducing Chad Hayes, Director of Sales for Eccomelt LLC
We are pleased to welcome Chad Hayes to our Eccomelt team! Chad was previously engaged for 5 year as the Head of North American Sales for Nexal Inc., a Canadian manufacturer of aluminum welding wire. While at Nexal, Chad worked to develop a distribution network of regional and national distributors to carry the Nexalloy line of Aluminum weld wire. Prior to Nexal, Chad immigrated to Canada after spending 5 years with Airgas in NYS. While at Airgas, Chad oversaw the implementation of Airgas distribution into Ontario, with the partnership of local distribution in Kingston Ontario. It was during this time that Chad met his wife Kelly. It was this relationship that motivated Chad to immigrate to Canada from the US to raise their family in the beautiful Kawartha lakes region of Peterborough. Prior to Chad’s work with Airgas in NYS his career was spent in Kansas, where he was born and raised, in the ag services business and included developing and producing hybrid varieties of seed wheat for the Great Plains region.
Eccomelt356.2 | Direct Substitute for A356.2 Ingot, Sow & T-bar
Alongside Alcan R&D, Eccomelt LLC has developed a patented revolutionary process that produces a specification alloy from aluminum wheels at a lower cost than traditional methods and that meets that EPA definition of CLEAN CHARGE.
Eccomelt LLC ships products to foundries within North America including the United States, Canada, and Mexico, and worldwide, such as France, Ireland, Italy, Serbia, and Spain. Our product is the material of choice for many consumers because it is chemically pure and environmentally-friendly. Its shredded form has achieved higher melting rates than Ingot, Sow or T-Bar. Environmental testing has also proven the process eliminates all coatings.
If you are an industry affected by the tariffs and proposed sanctions and looking for alternatives please give us a call. We can be contacted at (888) 356-9557 or visit our website and fill out our contact form. We would be delighted to hear from you.
