Dubai Aluminium (Dubal), the world’s largest single-site smelter using pre-bake anode technology, won the top honours in four of the award categories at the inaugural Metal Bulletin Global Awards for Aluminium Excellence.

The list of finalists in the various categories included several other major global and regional players in the aluminium industry including Emirates Aluminium (Emal), UC Rusal, Alcoa, Gulf Extrusions and Novelis.

The accolades were presented during a special gala dinner on September 18, coincident with Metal Bulletin’s 28th International Aluminium Conference, which took place in Geneva.

The four awards scooped by Dubal comprised:

1.    Smelting Company of the Year;

2.    Excellence in Operational Management for Smelters and Mills – which was awarded to Dubal’s Smelting and Casting Operations;

3.    Environmental Responsibility/Stewardship – which was awarded for Dubal’s successful reduction of greenhouse gas emissions; and

4.    Rising Star of the Year (Person) – which was awarded to Dubal’s Dr Ali Al Zarouni (vice president: Smelter Operations), who manages assets valued at over $2.4 billion, oversees approximately 40 per cent of Dubal’s 3,800-strong multi-national workforce and is also instrumental in the development and marketing of Dubal’s proprietary reduction technologies.

In addition, Dubal was a finalist in the fifth award category entered, namely Best Brownfield or Greenfield Technology Project, where the submission outlined the successful development of Dubal DX Technology, which has been installed in both brownfield expansion and greenfield projects.

“International recognition of the calibre accredited to Metal Bulletin, which has covered the metal markets since 1913, is a true feather in our corporate cap. The opportunity presented by these awards to benchmark ourselves against the global aluminium industry is invaluable, and I am extremely proud of our performance,” said Abdulla Kalban, president & CEO, Dubal.

“The recognition accorded to Dr Al Zarouni is richly deserved: he is a natural leader who exhibits strong commitment and loyalty to Dubal,” continued Kalban.

“Since joining our corporation in 1991, Dr Al Zarouni has played a key role in the sustained growth and success of Dubal as well as the establishment and expansion of Emal, where Dubal’s proprietary, in-house developed DX and DX+ technologies have been deployed on industrial scale.”

The Metal Bulletin Global Awards for Aluminium Excellence were launched this year to mark Metal Bulletin’s 100th anniversary. The finalists and winners in the diverse competition categories were determined by a panel of industry experts. – TradeArabia News Service