EGA signs agreements with INALUM for delivery of technical know-how to upgrade North Sumatran Aluminium smelter

Emirates Global Aluminium has signed a series of agreements with PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (INALUM) for delivery of technological know-how to upgrade the Indonesian company’s aluminium smelter in North Sumatra.

The signing was part of Indonesia UAE Week, which was organised by the two countries’ Embassies to further deepen economic ties between the UAE and Indonesia.

EGA will deliver expertise to upgrade the performance of the INALUM smelter by retrofitting improvements to its existing technology, which was first installed in 1982.

The expected time to conclude the project will take some 18 months and it aims to increase production at the North Sumatran smelter by 20,000 tonnes of aluminium per year. EGA has extensive experience in upgrading aluminium smelting technology. The company has completed a series of similar upgrades across its sites in Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah over the past decade.

An extension to a Memorandum of Understanding has also been signed between EGA and INALUM towards broader cooperation, which anticipates potential cooperation on the construction of a new aluminium smelter in Indonesia using EGA’s proprietary technology.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said: “EGA’s UAE-developed technology and technological know-how is taking its place amongst the best in the world in terms of efficiency, cost-effectiveness and sustainability. This is a source of pride for the UAE, as our technology is well-recognised worldwide.” 

“EGA has also developed significant expertise in retrofitting older technology locally in the UAE as well as regionally. This is what our engineers will be doing with INALUM over the next 18 months. We are confident we will complete this project ahead of the contractual schedule.”

“EGA is looking to strengthen our strategic relationships with Indonesian companies throughout the aluminium value chain in near future,” Mr Bin Kalban concluded.

INALUM will increase the production capacity of aluminium ingot, billet and foundry alloy by this collaboration, which has been exported globally.

EGA has developed its aluminium smelting technology for more than 25 years and has used UAE-developed technology in all its smelter expansions since then.

In 2016, EGA became the first UAE industrial company to license its core industrial process technology internationally, in a major milestone in the development of a knowledge economy in the UAE.