Top five aluminium master alloy producers in India

The global aluminium master alloy market is growing at a steady pace. With the area of applications widening, the key driver being aerospace, defence, and lightweight vehicles, the industry is expected to grow at an exponential rate over the next five years.

Going by metallurgy, a master alloy is a base metal combined with a high percentage of other element/s; aluminium master alloys are alloys that are added to the molten primary metal to obtain a specific composition and/or influence the as-cast structure for attaining the desired level of castability, strength, ductility, maleability, electrical conductivity ad surface finish. Aluminium master alloys, or for that matter, any metal master alloy can be categorised into two varieties: concentrated binary master alloys and grain-refining master alloys.

The uses of aluminium master alloys are manifold:

• They make short alloying times possible (important for alloying elements with high melting points)
• Their use reduces the loss of alloying elements in the melt
• They allow toxic metals to be added safely

Following are the top five aluminium master alloy producing companies in India:

(Please note, the ranking is dynamic and subject to change under different market conditions)

1. Minex Metallurgical:

Minex is a well-known name in the Indian alloying industry with five state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities located near Nagpur, Maharashtra. The company is headquartered in Mumbai and it boasts a global network of business associates through which it markets its products to key aluminium, foundry, and steel markets all across the world. The master alloy product portfolio dedicated to the aluminium industry features the following products:

• Aluminium copper master alloy
• Aluminium bismuth master alloy
• Aluminium boron alloy
• Aluminium cerium master alloy
• Aluminium grain refiner master alloys
• Aluminium silicon strontium
• Aluminium zirconium master alloy
• Titanium boron aluminium alloy

Minex also manufactures Demag tablet (the commercial-grade compressed powder of Potassium Aluminium Fluoride), iron tablet (the compressed powder additive to aluminium for alloying purpose), and manganese tablet (used for addition of compressed powder additive to aluminium for alloying purpose).

2. Ceraflux India

Ceraflux India Pvt Ltd is a Kolhapur, Maharashtra based company offering a wide range of metallurgical products. Apart from catering to the domestic industry, the company exports to more than 14 countries with customer base comprising more than 1000 clients. Ceraflux produces specialized aluminium master alloys for foundries through Ceral India. Its deep product basket features alloying materials such as

• Metallic Grain Refiner for Al-Si hypo-eutectic & eutectic Alloys
• Metallic Strontium based Modifier for hypo-eutectic & eutectic Alloys
• MASTER ALLOYS of Nickel, Copper,Chromium, Iron etc for alloy addition

Besides, Ceral India also produces a wide range of aluminium alloys except high magnesium alloys, high magnesium alloys, all aluminium alloys (hypo-eutectic, eutectic and hyper-eutectic), aluminium silicon alloys hypoeutectic and eutectic range, and zinc and zinc base alloys.

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2. Axayya Alloys

Another Indian downstream aluminium company of repute, Axayya Alloys Pvt Ltd has grown over three decades to become a leading secondary aluminium alloy fabricator of the world. Its head office and factory is located in Kharabwadi of Pune, Maharashtra, and it caters to a wide cross-section of industries covering defence, aerospace and other allied sectors. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is one of the noted customers of Axayya Alloys. The company offers following types of aluminium primary and secondary alloys.

• Japanese Industrial Standards: ADC Series, ALSI Series
• British Standards : LM Series

3. Transalloy India

Transalloy Group is one of India’s first ever metallurgical companies set up before independence. It was founded in the year 1945 in the name of Bombay Metal & Alloys Manufacturing Co. (Private) Ltd. With more than 55 years of experience in metal fabrication, Translloy today has emerged into a global supplier of non-ferrous metal alloys with its client base spread in the US, UK, Germany, and Singapore etc. Transalloy’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Silvasa has a production capacity of 6000 metric tonnes per annum and it produces all grades of aluminium master alloy in ingot forms. Its key offerings are as follows:

• Aluminium Manganese master alloy
• Aluminium Copper master alloy
• Aluminium Silicon master alloy

4. IMAC Alloy Casting

IMAC Alloy Casting is the largest manufacturer of aluminium (and zinc) based alloys in southern India. It has been engaged into reclamation of aluminium from scrap metal since 1957 and in 1985 it expanded its operations to become a manufacturer of international grade aluminium alloys. IMAC has merged the traditional practices of metallurgy with the state-of-the-art machinery to become a single source for aluminium machined components. The current annual turnover of the company has grown to over INR 890 million.

5. Acme Foundry Flux Co

Acme's head office and factory is located in Pune, Maharashtra. Its key offerings are:

• ACME ALLOY 101 (Aluminium 5% T: 1% B)
• ACME ALLOY 102 (Aluminium 5% Sr.)
• ACME ALLOY 103 (Aluminium 10% Sr.)

While ACME ALLOY 101 is used as a grain refiner in case of most of the aluminium alloys, ACME ALLOY 102 and ACME ALLOY 103 are used as a modifier in case of aluminium silicon eutectic alloys. All products conform to global standards and enjoy reasonably high demand in the global market.

Belmont Metals is a global name in the aluminium master alloy sector.Established over a century ago, Belmont Metals in the USA has come a long way as an exceptionally diversified producer of non-ferrous metal compositions and forms. Aluminium Master Alloys here are manufactured from the primary metal and are combined with a high percentage of one or more elements. Belmont's alloys enable casting houses and aluminium ingot manufacturers to overcome problems associated with alloying that they may often come across while working with molten metals, at cost-effective prices. The aluminium master alloys are produced in Slab, Waffle, Ingot, and Lump forms as per customer requirements.

Scandium International Mining Corp. (SCY) of the United States has also signed a MoU with NSW, Australia’s Weston Aluminium Pty Ltd for manufacturing aluminium-scandium master alloy. Under the MoU, the companies will develop the capability to provide Nyngan Project aluminium alloy customers scandium in form of Al-Sc Master Alloy.

The aluminium master alloy market is heating up. With India shifting its focus towards downstream manufacturing, more master alloy producing facilities are expected to come up and that would help make Indian metal industry players the preferred vendors for international OEMs.