The Middle East’s aluminium industry, spearheaded by companies like Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), is entering a stage of strong expansion, both in primary production and downstream development, according to an expert.

UAE’s Minister of Energy Suhail Mohamed Faraj Al Mazrouei highlighted the importance of EGA and the greater aluminium sector to the local economy at the recently concluded 29th International Aluminium Conference in Abu Dhabi.

The event brought together more than 500 key industry decision-makers from around the world. It was organised by Metal Bulletin and hosted by EGA, the jointly-owned aluminium conglomerate formed by Mubadala Development Corporation and Investment Corporation of Dubai by integrating their aluminium industry assets.

“From the early days of our union, aluminium was identified as the metal of the future and the industry of the future. Today, aluminium stands as a flagship industry in our nation’s development and on-going diversification,” said Al Mazrouei.

Meanwhile, Abdulla Kalban, managing director, EGA, sketched the growth of the sector since the onset of the global economic crisis in 2008, highlighting its successes against the odds.

The GCC then had two smelters - Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) and Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), which produced 1.92 million tpa. However, today there are six smelters in the GCC, with an annual production capacity of five million tpa, all operating at full capacity, he said.

A 2012 study found that the GCC smelters had the lowest conversion cost, business cost and economic cost per tonne of aluminium; as well as the lowest power costs per tonne of aluminium.

“The future of the Middle East aluminium industry remains bright. In the primary aluminum sector, further capacity expansions have been announced by four of the GCC smelters that will collectively add another 2.25 million tonnes to the region’s annual production capacity,” Kalban said.

“The downstream aluminium industry is also expanding, thanks to strong progress in local infrastructure development, increasing demand in international markets and the pro-active development of aluminium clusters, The growth of both sectors heralds more job creation opportunities, which will contribute further to the social and economic development of the region.”

Yousuf Bastaki, EGA’s senior vice president – Major Projects, elaborated on EGA’s successes with a presentation on ‘Managing Growth’  at the event.

The focus of the presentation was the construction and commissioning of EMAL – a massive undertaking that was completed in two phases. The finished EMAL complex comprises a 1.32 million tpa smelter (1,200 cells in three potlines); a 3,000 MW power station; raw materials storage silos; a large carbon plant; and casting facilities with a capacity of 1.5 million tpa.

EMAL Phase I (756 cells in two potlines) was one of the world’s largest greenfield smelter developments; while EMAL Phase II (444 cells in a single potline) is the world’s longest potline, at 1.7 km. - TradeArabia News Service