EGA signs MOU with Japan’s ITOCHU closely operating joint industrial projects

On November 18, Emirates Global Aluminium, the grandest industrial enterprise in the United Arab Emirates, excluding the oil and gas sector and ITOCHU Corporation of Japan bonded over a Memorandum of Understanding under which the companies would nurture and create joint projects in the UAE. This initiative is very crucial for UAE’s Operation 300 billion industrial growth scheme.

The EGA and ITOCHU friendship can be traced back to the 1980s, with the latter commercially popularising the former’s metal to Japanese users and companies that are internationally active.

In the recent ploy, both EGA and ITOCHU have decided to emphasise their individual industrial capabilities, further conjuring the best out of each other. Moreover, EGA wishes to enhance its existing activities with this collaboration, perfectly incorporating Japanese knowledge into UAE’s business module. 

Some of the operations scheduled are utterly new to UAE’s regime, like further purifying EGA’s metal to yield super-high purity aluminium for use in precisely engineered components, along with enhancing the recycling of copper that is used during EGA’s production process. Both companies are set to contribute with their partnership in Industry 4.0 projects. They are bound to discover the latest aluminium alloys for use in niche areas in alliance with third-party organisations.

For the proper implementation of UAE’s largest aluminium recycling facility, EGA and ITOCHU will work in an algorithm. Also, they will assist each other in creating a plant that generates silicon metal, a raw ingredient used in the making of ‘premium aluminium’. 

The Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, was vocal with his assessment: “EGA and ITOCHU have worked together for decades, and we are pleased to now explore how we can expand this relationship to new industrial activities and opportunities here in the UAE that would add value to our businesses. To more than double the size of the UAE’s industrial sector by 2031, our nation needs to develop new industrial capabilities. Working in partnership with other global companies like ITOCHU will help EGA accelerate our contribution to Operation 300bn.”

The Executive Officer and President of Metals & Minerals - ITOCHU, Kenji Seto, analysed: “ITOCHU and EGA have a strong partnership, and we are pleased to now be exploring joint projects in the UAE with the largest ‘premium aluminium’ producer in the world. Our aim is to leverage the strengths of each company to progress these projects and create value for us both as well as for the UAE as a nation.”