Alba gets government approval for gas allocation for Line 6 project

A top executive at Aluminium Bahrain reported on Tuesday that the company had received the government’s approval for the gas allocation that will aid the operation of the sixth proposed production line, expected to be operational by 2018.

The Chief Operating Officer, Isa al-Ansari revealed in an industry event held at Abu Dhabi that by the end of the year they are expecting final approval for the gas pricing structure. Once that gets through, the scheme will take 36 months to come together which means that production can start at the first quarter of 2018.

The smelter’s current capacity stands at 890,000 tonne and the line 6 project is expected to add 400,000 tonnes to that. The upswing of the aluminium industry with shorter supplies and greater demand, which is already forecasted to increase by 7%, is urging the company to strengthen its capacities.

An estimate of $2.5 billion is given for Alba’s Line 6 project.

The feasibility study for the project was done by Bechtel Canada who was hired for the job in December 2012 and financial adviser was BNP Paribas.

Ansari also said that they are interested in buying some upstream projects that will provide alumina for aluminium production.