Downstream units 'crucial for aluminium sector,' said EGA officials at Arabal 2015

Development of the downstream aluminium industries in the region will have positive implications for the aluminium sector as a whole, said a senior Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) official.

Abdulla Jassem bin Kalban, managing director and CEO at EGA, was speaking at the annual Arab International Aluminium Conference (Arabal), which took place recently in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

The Arabal 2015 event, comprising a strategic conference and industry exhibition, focused on the integration of the aluminium upstream and downstream sectors in the GCC, said a statement.

On the first day of the conference Kalban participated in a keynote panel discussion on ‘The prospects for the GCC aluminium sector’, it added. In his presentation he focused on the downstream industry in particular, highlighting the growth of downstream capacity in the UAE in parallel with the midstream smelting industry.

Today, the UAE’s downstream sector has a production capacity of around 380,000 tonnes per annum, of which more than 63.5 per cent of annual production is exported internationally. The predominant aluminium product type consumed by the downstream sector in the UAE is billets, which are used to manufacture construction, kitchen, industrial and automotive profiles as well as scaffolding tubing, heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) and automobile applications; and heat exchangers. Increased demand is expected from the local end-user market, driven by new local infrastructure development projects; as well as in international markets.

Kalban said: “As one of the largest industrial developments in the UAE outside the oil and gas sector, EGA provides a significant opportunity for downstream aluminium industries in the region, with the growth of these industries affecting factors such as the economy, through job creation.”

“EGA does not have assets in the downstream industry, so as not to compete with its local customers. Instead we support the sector by supplying virtually all of the primary aluminium required by the UAE’s downstream aluminium businesses and nurturing mutually beneficial, successful partnerships,” he said.

At the end of his presentation, Kalban announced that EGA will host Arabal 2016 in Dubai, UAE. Next year’s event will be the 20th edition and will mark the sixth time that EGA has hosted Arabal. A key member of the Arabal Forum since its inception, EGA is committed to making Arabal 2016 one of the best ever.

EGA’s second speaker at Arabal, Dr Ali Mohamed Al Zarouni, senior vice president Jebel Ali operations, technology development and transfer, spoke during a session dedicated to innovation and technology in the aluminium industry - areas in which EGA has devoted significant resources and expertise since its inception.

Dr Al Zarouni presented a case study on EGA’s high amperage DX and DX+ Technologies during which he highlighted the benchmark performances achieved by these innovations to date - including improved productivity and environmental impact along with lower Capex. He also shared the performance results of EGA’s DX+ Ultra Technology demonstration cells, emphasising the tremendous promise inherent in the technology’s achievements to date; and touched on EGA’s new pot control technology.