Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the largest industrial company in the UAE outside oil and gas and the world’s largest ‘premium aluminium’ producer, today reported net income of Dh3.3 billion ($900 million) for 2017, a 59 per cent increase on 2016.

 

EGA’s revenue increased to Dh20.5 billion ($5.6 billion) in 2017 compared to Dh17.1 billion ($4.6 billion) in 2016.

 

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (adjusted EBITDA) stood at Dh6.7 billion ($1.8 billion), an increase of 31 per cent from Dh5.1 billion ($1.4 billion) in 2016. EGA’s adjusted EBITDA margin for 2017 was 32 per cent. (30 per cent in 2016).

 

Record cast metal production of 2.6 million tonnes (2016: 2.5 million tonnes) and a continuing focus on cost control and operational efficiency contributed to EGA’s strong performance, amid favourable conditions in the global aluminium market, the company said.

 

EGA’s sales of value-added products, which attract considerably higher premiums over LME prices than those achieved by standard aluminium and enable EGA to maximise the value of its production, increased by 87 thousand tonnes in 2017 to 2.1 million tonnes, representing 82 per cent of total sales. 

 

EGA sold value-added products to 336 customers in 54 countries in 2017 and is the world’s biggest ‘premium aluminium’ producer.

 

EGA distributed Dh2 billion ($546 million) to its shareholders in 2017 compared to Dh1.2 billion ($340 million) in 2016.

 

Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Chairman of EGA, said: “Emirates Global Aluminium is one of the UAE’s most important industrial giants, and a world leader in the global aluminium sector. With a strong customer base worldwide, a seasoned management team and a solid financial foundation, EGA is well-positioned to benefit from the increasing demand for aluminium in this era of growth and innovation.”

 

Abdulla Kalban, EGA’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, said: “Our industry-leading operating margins strengthened further in 2017, demonstrating the success of our business model, our technological and structural cost advantages, and our superior product mix as the world’s largest producer of value-added products.  One area of particular success in 2017 stems from our development over more than 25 years of our own energy efficient smelting technology. All our reduction cells run on EGA technology, reducing costs and environmental emissions.

 

“We also continued to progress well in 2017 on our strategic growth projects that are expanding our business upstream to secure the natural resources we need. Once complete, Al Taweelah alumina refinery in Abu Dhabi and GAC, our bauxite mining project in the Republic of Guinea, will deliver value for decades to come as well as create further long-term growth opportunities for EGA.”

 

EGA’s safety performance compares favourably to global industry benchmarks. EGA’s Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate in 2017 was 1.53 per million hours worked, compared to 2.16 in 2016. The global average Total Recordable Injury Frequency Rate in the aluminium industry in 2016 was 4.0 per million hours worked, according to the International Aluminium Institute.

 

EGA recorded one Lost Time Injury in 2017 with a Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate of 0.04 per million hours worked, compared to 0.28 in 2016. 

 

Work on Al Taweelah alumina refinery is currently 76 per cent complete and first alumina is expected during the first half of 2019. Once full ramp up is achieved, Al Taweelah alumina refinery will meet 40 per cent of EGA’s alumina requirements, helping to secure the competitive supply of the feedstock for aluminium smelters. More than 10,000 people are currently working on the project, which has a total budgeted project cost of approximately $3.3 billion.

 

The Guinea Alumina Corporation bauxite mine project is currently 37 per cent complete, with first bauxite exports expected during the second half of 2019. EGA’s Guinea project, which has a total budgeted project cost of approximately $1.4 billion, will be amongst the world’s largest and highest quality bauxite mines, creating a new revenue stream for EGA.

 

EGA's value-added products were sold to 336 customers in 54 countries with the sales increasing by 87,000 tonnes to 2.1 million tonnes, representing 82 per cent of total sales. EGA is the world’s largest ‘premium aluminium’ producer, the company said. 

 

EGA’s aluminium is the second biggest made-in-the-UAE export by value (after hydrocarbons). EGA supplies aluminium to over 350 customers in total in more than 60 countries in Asia, the Middle East and North Africa region, Europe and the Americas. 

 

About 10 per cent EGA’s production is supplied to customers in the UAE, serving the growing needs of the UAE’s downstream fabrication sector. EGA sold 268,000 tonnes of metal to customers in the UAE in 2017, compared to 262,000 tonnes in 2016. This included sales of hot liquid metal to customers located near EGA’s Al Taweelah smelter in Abu Dhabi.

 

EGA has developed its own technology for over 25 years to improve the efficiency of the aluminium smelting process. EGA has used its own technology for every smelter expansion since the 1990s. 

 

In October, EGA completed a major project to retrofit its older production lines at Jebel Ali with EGA technology. The new reduction cells each have the capacity to produce 20 per cent more aluminium than those they replaced, with 10 per cent less specific energy consumption to make each tonne of metal. 

 

EGA continues to invest in developing its smelter technology and is at the forefront of innovation in the industry, with demonstrated and growing use of technologies such as robotics, machine learning and advanced analytics supporting continuous improvements in operating performance, the company said. - TradeArabia News Service