More than 60 industry-leading speakers and over 550 delegates from 35 countries are taking part in the 21st edition of the ongoing Arab International Aluminium Conference & Exhibition (Arabal), being held in Muscat, Oman.

The event which kicked off on November 6 will conclude tomorrow (November 9), at the Shangri-La Bar Al Jissah.

The six regional heavyweights who are the force behind the event includes: Sohar Aluminium, Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), Egypt Aluminium Company, Qatar Aluminium, Maaden Aluminium and Emirates Global Aluminium. The companies have worked together for over three decades to bolster the industry and drive strategic growth in Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.  

Mohammad Al Naki, founder and chairman of Arabal, said: “The event has been held for 34 years now thanks to the collaborative efforts of the member companies and the continuous support of our partners in the aluminium sector.”

“This conference also forms an enabler for us to unlock the potential opportunities in our sector, share knowledge, and shape a sustainable future for this pivotal industrial sector,” he said.

During his keynote address, Sayyid Kamil bin Fahd bin Mahmoud Al-Said, assistant secretary general for the Cabinet of the Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers, said: “While Oman’s many natural resources have been harnessed with considerable success, we need vision to unlock their full potential.”

“This is something Oman has been able to achieve within the global aluminium sector since its emergence as a player only a few years ago. Locally, the industry has boosted job opportunities and created a valuable knowledge base regionally and internationally, which has contributed significantly in raising Oman’s profile,” he said.

Since its inception in 1983, Arabal has served as the leading knowledge-sharing and networking platform for the aluminium industry in the Mena. The strength and success of both Arabal and Mena’s aluminium industry has been driven by the enduring dedication and collaboration between all of the region’s primary aluminium manufacturers which has enabled production levels to reach 10 per cent of world production, excluding China.

This year's edition of Arabal followed a long tradition of debate and knowledge transfer guided by the theme ‘Driving Strategic Growth Across the Global Aluminium Industry’. The integrated programme of panel discussions featured renowned speakers and expert analysts who shared key insights on the current global economic climate along with market challenges and opportunities as new supply and demand centres emerge in addition to potential use of renewable energy sources, warehousing, and innovation in aluminium.

The exhibition featured a prestigious line-up of 43 companies from some of the world’s leading product and service providers of the aluminium industry, local downstream companies, all the primary aluminium smelters in the GCC and the Middle East, and a large delegation from the Quebec aluminium sector lead by Canada’s and Quebec’s Export Development Agencies.

Highlighting the stature of the event, industry leaders from Norway, Australia, China, US, Russia, Iran and India participated in a single session for the first time in Arabal’s history. Representatives from aluminium giants Norsk Hydro, Rio Tinto, UC RUSAL, Aditya Aluminium India, Iranian Mines and Mining Industries (Imidro) and AZ China Ltd, tackled future demand for aluminium produced in emerging markets including the Middle East while London Metal Exchange (LME), Thomson Reuters, and Bank of China International and Harbour Aluminium addressed the global economic outlook for metal commodities, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service