Internal combustion engine
performance with better safety and lower emission, this gap is going to shrink in the coming years.
In fact, Vedanta Aluminium was the first in India to supply Primary Foundry Alloy (PFA) to the domestic auto sector. Until then, the country’s entire PFA demand was being met through imports, even though India has the world’s second-largest aluminium production capacity. Looking at the promise of the auto market and its import dependency, Vedanta Aluminium decided to tap into the opportunity and develop 240 Kilo Tonnes Per Annum (KTPA) indigenous capabilities at its stateof-the-art facilities in Jharsuguda (Odisha) and BALCO (Chhattisgarh) to meet that demand.
Today, usage of high-performance aluminium alloys in crankcases, cylinder blocks, heads and pistons are commonplace. Aluminium alloys are the preferred material for ICE components due to characteristics like low density, high thermal conductivity, simple fabrication techniques (casting and forging), easy machinability, high reliability and recyclability. Proper control of the chemical composition, processing conditions and final heat treatment results in a microstructure which ensures the required mechanical and thermal performance, in particular the high thermal fatigue resistance.
Aluminium will continue to play a significant role in the continued evolution of ICEs along the lines of reduction in piston weight, increase of mechanical and thermal load capacity, lower friction, improved scuffing resistance, etc., as well as basic requirements like durability, low noise level and reduced fuel consumption.
Aluminium commodity outlook
Aluminium prices have strengthened during the second quarter of FY21 with recovery in the global economy, resilient Chinese demand and a weaker US dollar. Entering the third quarter, market experts predict that the prices shall drift lower as the global economic recovery goes back to its initial rebound phase. Analysts estimate that the upward momentum of LME shall fall through Q3FY21 and average out at USD 1,750 per tonne. On the demand side, outside China, North East Asia market and the US market are in the rebound phase. Globally aluminium production will increase by one per cent YoY in CY2020, with a 1.6 per cent contraction ex. China and three per cent growth in China along with an estimated surplus of 3.8 Mt in CY2020.
There has been a spike of 17 per cent in the London Metal Exchange (LME) price of aluminium, from USD 1460 per tonne in March’20 to USD 1721 per tonne in August’20. Parallelly, there has been a steady increase in demand for automobiles globally. With the Indian Inc. pulling out all the stops to emerge competitive in the postCovid global order and efforts by the central govt. to revive the economy, aluminium has a big role to play in achieving the coveted V-shaped recovery of the Indian economy from approximately two per cent to seven per cent by next year.
Future potential
India is yet to fully explore applications of aluminium in the automotive industr y akin to its global peers. There is immense potential for usage of aluminium in other auto parts like engine, suspension, front end carrier, instrument panel support, rear frame, chassis and many more.
In developed countries, around 21 PFAs are used in the automotive segment to achieve light-weighting in the form of various auto parts and components. On the other hand, in India, we majorly use PFAs only for manufacturing alloy wheels and to some extent, for c ylinder heads. There is scope for Indian aluminium manufacturers to expand their aluminium alloy portfolio for supporting the manufacturing of cylinder heads, ABS brakes and certain other applications, replacing traditional materials.