Charles Martin Hall discovered the electrolytic process for extracting Aluminum from its oxide, 125 years ago from tomorrow. Hall later went on to co-found ALCOA, and gifted his Alma Mater, Oberlin College, with 1/3 of his estate.
Patent number 400664 was issued to him on 04. 02. 1889. See the patent here.
Paul T. Heroult made the same discovery around the same time, and history credits both men for this accomplishment by calling it the Hall-Heroult process.
Aluminum is a critical material of our modern technologies- airplanes, air conditioning and refrigeration parts, engine blocks, cookware, beverage cans. As copper prices continue to escalate, our customers are finding aluminum parts are becoming viable substitutions. And the price of aluminum seems less variable, too. Thats good news for shops that make parts out of aluminum.
According to the Metal Service Center Industry association:
U.S. aluminum shipments finished 2010 some 25.8 percent higher at 1.3 million tons and rose 7.7 percent in Canada, to 135,200 tons than 2009.
U.S. metal centers shipped 100,300 tons of aluminum products during December, or 26.7 percent more than during December 2009. Aluminum inventories at the end of the year totaled 347,900 tons, 33.5 percent above the stockpiles of a year ago and equal to a 3.5-month supply.
In Canada, service centers shipped 9,000 tons of aluminum during December, up 16.7 percent from the same month last year. Aluminum inventories at year end of 31,300 tons were 7.2 percent above stocks at the end of 2009 and equal to a 3.5-month supply.
Aluminum shipments indicate economic recovery is in process.
We believe that continued demand for copper in global developing economies will increasingly make aluminum a cost effective substitute. Add demand for lighter weight vehicles and improved fuel mileage and we can see that aluminum will continue to increase in its use in our shops.
And to protect our critical thinking…
Hall and Hall Cell
MSCI Link
Hat