Emirates Global Aluminium has reportedly announced its competitive financial and operational results for 2023, revealing the highest-ever production across the value chain. The company posted that it produced 2.66 million tonnes of primary aluminium in 2023 at Al Taweelah and Jebel Ali versus 2.65 million tonnes in 2022.

Alumina output stood at 2.48 million tonnes in 2023 compared to 2.43 million tonnes a year ago, with Al Taweelah refinery continued to grow its production beyond nameplate capacity. The refinery alone met 48 per cent of EGA’s alumina needs in 2023. The production of CelestiAL solar aluminium also edged an increase of 9,000 tonnes Y-o-Y from 57,000 tonnes to 66,000 tonnes.

Sales & exports

EGA also announced record sales of cast metal at 2.75 million tonnes in 2023, up by 1.10 per cent from 2.72 million tonnes in 2022. Of the total cast metal sales in 2023, 76 per cent was value-added products, which in the previous year accounted for 78 per cent of the total aluminium output. Cast metal sales to local UAE customers were 293,000 tonnes.

As far as exports were concerned, bauxite exports from EGA’s Guinea reserves totalled 14.1 million wet metric tonnes in 2023, a little higher than 14 million tonnes in 2022. Some 1.2 million tonnes of bauxite was supplied to EGA in the UAE, while the rest sold to external customers.

Financial output

But despite the record production and sales, the company’s revenue registered a downfall of 14.74 per cent from AED 34.6 billion ($9.4 billion) in 2022 to AED 29.5 billion ($8 billion) in 2023. Adjusted EBITDA derived at AED 7.7 billion ($2.1 billion) in 2023, down by 37.9 per cent from AED 12.4 billion ($3.4 billion). Net profit also slumped over a year from AED 7.4 billion ($2 billion) to AED 3.4 billion ($937 million) in 2023.

Cash generated from operating activities was AED 7.9 billion ($2.2 billion) in 2023, compared to AED 12.7 billion ($3.4 billion) in 2022. However, the company’s total debt at the end of the year stood at AED 16.6 billion, down by 15.74 per cent from AED 19.7 billion ($5.4 billion) at the end of 2022.

CEO comment

Commenting on the 2023 results, Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, said: “In 2023, EGA again delivered strong performance in what we control – the safety of our people, operational excellence, our costs, and our long-term commercial relationships with our global customers. This enabled us to continue to deliver competitive financial results compared to our global peers, and record-equalling dividends for our shareholders.”

He added, “Global aluminium prices were lower than in 2022, amid a less robust economy. However, prices remained higher than historic annual averages for the eight years before the pandemic.We believe the outlook for aluminium in the long term is very positive, because our metal is an essential material for the development of a more sustainable society. Global aluminium demand is expected to grow significantly over the coming decades, particularly for low carbon and recycled metal. EGA is well set to capitalise on these growth opportunities and further strengthen our position in the global aluminium industry.”