Masharie, the private equity arm of Dubai Investments (DI), has announced it is expanding its extruded aluminium production capacity by over 10,000 tonnes annually as demand from the downstream industries and transportation and electrical sectors surges across the UAE and GCC.

Masharie subsidiary Emirates Extrusion Factory (EEF), based in Techno Park Dubai, is commissioning its third extrusion line by July 2016, which will increase capacity by 6,000 tonnes. EEF will also start its new powder coating plant with capacity of 5,500 to 6,000 tonnes by July this year.

Another Masharie subsidiary, White Aluminium Extrusion (WAE), is set to commission an anodising plant with knowhow from Italy and capacity of nearly 4,800 tonnes in Q2 of 2016.

EEF and WAE, which export 70 per cent of their extruded profiles, are also targeting new markets as part of their international expansion strategy with a strong focus on Africa, GCC and the Middle East.

The companies currently export to over 26 countries across the GCC, Africa, Asia and Europe with key markets being Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Jordan, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Ethiopia.

EEF, which achieved a turnover of nearly Dh120 million ($32.67 million) in 2015, and WAE with a turnover of Dh150 million that year, are both eyeing strong growth in 2016. Nearly 85 per cent of EEF and WAE’s products are earmarked for architectural applications in the construction sector and the balance 15 per cent is used for industrial applications.

Khalfan Al Suwaidi, managing director of EEF and WAE, said the two firms are building on market leadership and will continue to focus on exports in the medium to long term.

“There has been significant investments in the transportation, electrical and industrial sectors across GCC countries, and there is increasing demand for aluminium products for these sectors,” he added.