A new hub in the aluminium industry is emerging in the Middle East, with the potential to become a leading sector of the aluminium market in the years to come.

In 1980, the region contributed 1 per cent of the total world aluminium production. Today, it accounts for about seven per cent of the 38 million tonnes of metal produced on the world market each year.
Moreover, the region is ideally positioned to play an even greater role as a primary producer of aluminium – especially given the ever-increasing demand for the light metal worldwide, coupled with the vast energy resources available and central location of the Middle East on the world map. Already, several major international aluminium companies have invested in joint venture smelter developments in the GCC region, specifically in Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia. Current estimates indicate that the number of smelter complexes in the region will grow by at least six over the next decade. 
Indeed, leading industry experts believe that by 2020 the Middle East will produce approximately 6 million tonnes of aluminium a year (equating to more than 10 per cent of global production); and that, by 2030, the volume produced by the region will rise to about 10 million tonnes.
Dubai Aluminium Company Limited (Dubal) – the world’s seventh largest producer of primary aluminium – is well-placed to leverage these trends. Having set its corporate sights on becoming the fifth largest producer of the metal by 2015, the company has embarked on a multi-pronged strategy that combines both organic growth and new smelter developments.

Organic growth
The most recent in a series of six consecutive expansion projects was completed in the first quarter of 2008, effectively adding 62,000 metric tonnes per annum (mtpa) of aluminium to the production capacity of its Jebel Ali plant. This raised the overall capacity of the plant to 950,000 mtpa, although ongoing improvements in operating efficiencies are expected to yield almost one million tonnes of molten metal in 2008. Undertaken in two phases, Dubal’s latest project added a 32-pot, 22,000 mtpa extension to Potline 5 (completed in July 2007); and a 40-pot, 40,000 mtpa extension to Potline 6 (completed in February 2008 and renamed Potline 8). The combined Potline 5 and 6b expansion project, which cost $236 million, brought the number of electrolytic aluminium reduction cells in the plant infrastructure to 1,557 pots, arranged in nine potlines.
The new Potline 8 represents a particular milestone in Dubal’s ongoing quest to develop advanced technologies which can compete with similar technologies on the world market in terms of productivity, capacity and efficiency, while maintaining the highest standards of environmental conservation. The 40 new cells incorporate Dubal’s proprietary DX technology. The cells operate at more than 350,000 amperes, one of the highest in the industry, to produce approximately 2.6 tonnes per cell per day (60.4 per cent higher than the 1.6 tonnes per cell per day achieved using conventional reduction cell technologies). Dubal’s DX technology is also nearly 8 per cent more energy efficient than earlier generation technologies, thus offering environmental advantages.

New smelter developments
Dubal’s current share of the total world aluminium market is 2.3 per cent. To maximise its participation in anticipated growth of the sector, the company aims to enter into joint venture partnerships for the development of green-field smelters using its proprietary DX technology.
Accordingly, Dubal entered into an alliance in February 2007 with Mubadala Development Company, a wholly-owned investment vehicle of the government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The resulting joint venture aims to become one of the largest primary producers of aluminium in the world. This will be achieved by leveraging the synergy of Dubal’s aluminium expertise and Abu Dhabi’s energy and financial resources.
The joint venture has already made good progress towards this ambition:
Construction work has commenced at the Emal Smelter project at Al Taweelah in Abu Dhabi, which involves a 1.5 million mtpa smelter to be constructed in two phases.  The smelter will feature Dubal’s in-house developed DX cell technology and a 2,100 MW power plant. The first phase, comprising a 727,000 mtpa year smelter, will be completed in 2010 (effectively doubling the volume of metal marketed by Dubal by 2011). The Emal smelter’s capacity will be expanded to 1.5 million mtpa by 2013.
Dubal and Mubadala have also entered into a partnership with Algerian state-owned oil and gas company Sonatrach. The proposed Béni-Saf Aluminium smelter will be on a 522-hectare site in the new industrial zone of Béni-Saf. The project will incorporate Dubal’s DX cell technology and will initially have the capacity to produce 750,000 mtpa of hot metal (with the option of doubling to 1.5 million mtpa in time). The project includes a 2,200 MW power plant and a deep-sea port and is scheduled for commissioning in late 2012. The feasibility and environmental impact assessment studies are in progress.
Dubal and Mubadala have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority and Emaar, The Economic City regarding the green-field development of a 750,000 mtpa aluminium smelter complex, complete with a dedicated power generation utility, in King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia. Feasibility and environmental impact studies will precede the development and construction of the proposed complex, which will feature Dubal’s DX cell technology and leverage the company’s project management skills, operational efficiency and global market position.
The additional production capacity generated by these green-field developments, together with the expanded capacity at Dubal’s Jebel Ali plant, will place the company firmly on track to achieve its strategic ambition, while benefiting from the global and regional growth trends.
Dubal currently ranks as the largest single-site aluminium smelter complex in the Western world and is also the single largest non-oil contributor to the economy of Dubai. Built on a 480-hectare site in Jebel Ali its major facilities comprise a 950,000 mtpa primary aluminium smelter, a 2,400 megawatt power station, a large carbon plant, three casthouses, a 30-million-gallon-per-day water desalination plant, laboratories, a port and storage facilities.
The company produces high-quality finished aluminium products a year, in three main forms: foundry alloy for automotive applications, extrusion billet for construction purposes and high-purity aluminium for the electronics industry.
Dubal serves 280 customers in 44 countries predominantly in the Far East, Europe, the Asean region, the Middle East, the Mediterranean region, and North America.  The company holds ISO 9001, ISO/TS 16949, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certifications; and has twice won the Dubai Quality Award in the production and manufacturing sector (1996 and 2000).