Khaleej Times

EGA’s Dh11 billion project reaches key milestone

- Staff Report — business@khaleejtim­es.com

DUBAI — Emirates Global Aluminium’s Al Taweelah alumina refinery, an Dh11 billion new plant set to be a critical part of the UAE’s growing aluminium industry, on Wednesday reached a significan­t constructi­on milestone.

EGA’s executive vice-president Upstream Yousuf Bastaki was joined by Finnish Ambassador Riitta Swan and Markku Teräsvasar­a, chief executive officer of Finland-headquarte­red global minerals and metals technology company Outotec, to celebrate the 60 per cent completion of the Calciners section of the project.

Overall completion of the project is currently at 37 per cent.

The Al Taweelah alumina refinery is currently one of the largest industrial constructi­on sites in the UAE, with 5,900 people working on site. Peak constructi­on manpower is expected to be more than 10,000. EGA is the largest industrial company in the UAE outside the oil industry.

The refinery is only the second to be built anywhere in the Middle East, and sees the UAE expanding upstream in the aluminium value chain. The plant will refine bauxite ore into alumina, the feedstock for aluminium smelters. Currently the UAE relies on third party imports for all of its alumina needs, which amount to close to five million tonnes per year.

The Al Taweelah alumina refinery is located next to EGA’s Al Taweelah smelter, one of the largest single-site aluminium smelters in the world, in the Khalifa Industrial Zone in Abu Dhabi (Kizad). Constructi­ng the alumina refinery is the biggest project in the UAE’s aluminium industry since the constructi­on of the Al Taweelah smelter itself.

 ?? Supplied photo ?? Yousuf Bastaki was joined by Riitta Swan and Markku Teräsvasar­a, to celebrate the 60 per cent completion of the calciners section of the project. —
Supplied photo Yousuf Bastaki was joined by Riitta Swan and Markku Teräsvasar­a, to celebrate the 60 per cent completion of the calciners section of the project. —

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