Emal, the Abu Dhabi-based aluminium smelter, today celebrated the delivery of the first cast metal produced in its plant to clients across the world.

Khaldoun Al Mubarak and Abdulla Kalban, chairman and vice-chairman of Emal Board of Directors, joined nearly 2,000 Emal employees and contractors in the celebration.

Ramp up to full production at Emal began in December with the delivery of the first crucibles of molten metal from the aluminium smelter to the plant casthouse. The first metal was cast into 650kg sow ingot.

The casting of the first metal means that Emal has begun to deliver its value added products to customers in the first quarter of 2010, well ahead of previously scheduled dates.

"Today we can proudly say that the aluminium we have made here in Abu Dhabi is now being used by companies worldwide. As one of the largest diversification projects in the UAE, this is a hugely gratifying moment,"
said Saeed Al Mazrooei, Emal CEO designate.

Cast house production will continue to expand over time, with the production mix expanding from sow ingots to include standard ingot, sheet ingot, tee ingot and extrusion billet. Once fully operational, the production capacity of the cast house will reach 975,000 tonnes per year.

During the ceremony at the Emal site, samples of the first batch of cast metal - in the form of 20kg ingots - were presented to Al Mubarak and Kalban by the executive committee of Emal.

"We would like to thank our board along with the government authorities of the United Arab Emirates for their support of the project. Their involvement has been imperative to the success of Emal," added Duncan Hedditch, Emal CEO.

"We watched with excitement as the first pot was energised six weeks ago knowing that very soon we'd be delivering molten metal to cast into the products we will ship to our customers," said Salman Dawood Abdulla, Emal COO. "Knowing that these first ingots have been presented to our chairman and vice-chairman is enormously rewarding to all of us who work in Emal operations."

Emal is a joint venture between Dubai Aluminium Company Limited (Dubal) and Mubadala Development Company and was established in February 2007 to construct what will become the world's largest single site aluminium smelter complex.

The project will be built in two phases and utilise Dubal DX technology. Phase one started production in December 2009 and once finished, Emal will produce 750,000 tonnes of aluminium per annum and 1.4 million tonnes annually at the end of phase two.

The aluminium complex will produce primary aluminium with a product mix of sow, standard ingot, tee ingot, extrusion billet and sheet ingot. - TradeArabia News Service