The Dubai Aluminium Company DUBAL is ranked as the 7th largest global producer in the industry with a current production capacity of 861,000 tonnes per annum by the end of 2006 and the capacity is expected to reach 920,000 tonnes by the end of 2008.
Revealing this in his keynote address at the Middle East Aluminium Conference currently being held in Dubai, Mr. Abdulla J. M. Kalban, CEO of DUBAL, said: “After our USD230 million ongoing Potline 5 & 6 B expansion, we will be able to raise our current metal production capacity to 920,000 tonnes per annum, while the casthouse will have 1.13 million TPA. The power generation capacity will touch 2045 MW.”
The two-day conference is being organized by Middle East Economic Digest (MEED), on February 18 and 19, 2007 at the Park Hyatt Dubai. “The DUBAL move is in line with the vision of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, the UAE Minister for Finance and Industry, and Chairman of DUBAL, and his guidance in steering our company to make it one of the foremost players in the global aluminium industry,” said Mr. Kalban.
“The support of our senior management ream including the board of directors and our staff has also been crucial to our unprecedented growth so far,” said Mr. Kalban.
“DUBAL has come a long way from 182,000 TPA to 861,000 TPA in 2006. During these years, we have continuously reinvented ourselves, made strategic investments and increased our customers in almost all the regions in the world from the Far East to the American continent,” remarked Mr. Kalban.
“At present nearly 35% of our total production goes to the Far East, 11% to South-East Asia, 25% to the Middle East, 20% to Europe and 10% to North America. The number of our direct customers has gone up from 190 in 1996 to 280 in 2006,” Mr. Kalban pointed out.
DUBAL signed a Joint Protocol and a Joint Development Agreement with the Mubadala Development Company in Abu Dhabi in February 2007 to set up Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) which will be the largest single site aluminium smelter in the world. The first of the two-phased project will be operational by 2010 with 700,000 TPA capacity.
The complex, which will be located at the Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone in Taweelah, Abu Dhabi, will have a total of 1.4 million TPA capacity on completion of both the phases. “We have also been looking overseas for Primary Aluminium and upstream investments. We have already announced a joint venture with India’s Larsen & Toubro for development of bauxite mining and alumina refinery in the eastern state of Orissa at a cost of USD3.5 billion.”
“Additionally, we have signed an agreement with Canada’s GAPCO for 25% equity participation and 40% offtake from the alumina refinery in Guinea which will have a three million tonnes per annum capacity.”
“DUBAL’s in-house D20 and DX technologies have been the main driving force behind our ambition to grow in the international arena. In fact, Potlines 5B and 6B will be incorporating this technology during their expansion process to add 60,000 tonnes to the existing capacity by 2008-end,” pointed out Mr. Kalban.
DUBAL has already invested a total of AED900 million in environmental projects so far since the year 2000, including fume treatment plants and other environmental projects and upgrades. In Environment, Health and Safety (EHS), DUBAL has won international accolades year after year, besides being one of the leaders in developing and implementing a safety culture with zero lost time due to injury.
“When we have a strong commitment from our people, nothing is impossible to achieve. Our suggestion schemes for employees have been one of our key strengths. Several of our employees’ suggestions have been awarded at international forums in the UK and the US, demonstrating the ability, sincerity and devotion of our workforce,” remarked Mr. Kalban.
In keeping with the government’s initiative we have also given adequate importance to nationalization plans because of which 75% of the senior management staff are UAE nationals, he added.
“For the future DUBAL has further ambitions to grow and excel as we have shown in all other areas. We are looking at a total production capacity of 2.5 million TPA, which will firmly establish us on the higher echelons of the industry rankings. This we feel is our responsibility which will contribute greatly to the industry’s growth and enhance the manufacturing capabilities of the country,” Mr. Kalban concluded.
