Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has announced the start-up of its $3.3-billion Al Taweelah alumina refinery, a strategic growth project that expands the industrial giant’s business upstream in the aluminium value chain.
The facility, located in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi, is the first alumina refinery in the UAE and its start-up marks the beginning of alumina refining as a new industrial activity in the country, said a statement from EGA.
Alumina is the feedstock for aluminium smelters and is refined from bauxite ore. But currently the UAE imports all the alumina it needs for the country.
Once full ramp-up is achieved, Al Taweelah alumina refinery is expected to produce some two million tonnes of alumina per year, replacing some imports and securing EGA’s competitive supply of this vital raw material, it stated.
Commenting on the announcement, Managing Director and CEO Abdulla Kalban said: "The start-up of Al Taweelah alumina refinery is transformative for EGA and the first of two major milestones this year as we complete our strategic growth projects upstream in the aluminium value chain."
Construction of Al Taweelah alumina refinery took 72 million hours of work – the equivalent of one person working for more than 25,000 years. The construction workforce peaked at 11,542 people.
"Al Taweelah alumina refinery, and our bauxite mining project in Guinea where construction continues, secure our supply of raw materials at competitive prices and will strengthen EGA’s business for decades ahead. I want to thank every colleague who played a role in the safe and efficient completion of this important project," he added.
Al Taweelah alumina refinery is expected to convert some five million tonnes of bauxite into alumina per year once full ramp-up is achieved. Bauxite for the project will be imported from Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee in Guinea in West Africa, said the Emirati industrial giant in its statement.
EGA is also building a bauxite mine and export facilities in Guinea in another strategic growth project upstream. First bauxite exports are expected during the second half of this year and will be sold to customers around the world, it added.
