Bahrain exports 42% of its primary aluminium production globally

After China it is the Middle East which is experiencing phenomenal growth in aluminium. Higher energy and labour costs in North America and Europe have caused the production base for aluminium to China and the GCC countries. Bahrain is a small island country which has changed the economy over the years by slowly shifting to aluminium as one of the major economic drivers. Aluminium Bahrain( ALBA) is one of the largest aluminium smelters in the world known for its technological strength and high quality aluminium and solely account for the aluminium production in Bahrain. Alba began operations in 1971 with annual capacity of just 120,000 mtpa as the first aluminium smelter in the Middle East, and the first non-oil industry established in Bahrain.

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Bahrain produces about 890,500 tons of primary aluminium annually.  In the year 2014, out of that amount, Bahrain exported 376170 tons of primary aluminium. In 2015, the export dropped to 306,777 tons as the country is focusing on more value added domestic applications.  In the year 2016, the export amount is estimated to be about 302,920 tons registering a further drop. The total value of aluminium export was USD 831 million and USD 764 million respectively. The value of export is estimated to drop to USD 738 million in 2016. On an average, Bahrain exports about 42% of primary aluminium across the world.


The remaining part of aluminium produced in Bahrain are utilized in making value added products like rolling slabs, foundry alloy ingots, extrusion billets etc. for supplying to domestic and international downstream sector. Alba also produces high purity aluminium with 99.7 per cent aluminium content. The metal, at these purity levels or higher, is supplied in liquid form to downstream industries in Bahrain whose premises are located minutes away from the smelter.

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The top primary aluminium importer from Bahrain is USA. The country imported 74,423 tons of primary aluminium in 2015 and 80,547 tons are estimated to be imported in 2016. USA is followed by Turkey, South Africa, and India.

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