“The expansion of primary aluminium production in the Gulf indeed leads to increased customer demand towards Fives for machinery and equipment with advanced automation and control systems,” Frédéric Pereira, Services Development Manager, Aluminium Division, Fives.

Frédéric Pereira is a seasoned professional with over 13 years of dedicated service at Fives ECL, where he currently holds the esteemed position of Services Development Manager for the Aluminium division. With a robust background in production engineering complemented by a Master of Business Administration, Frédéric brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role.

Throughout his career, Frédéric has demonstrated a strong aptitude for project management, particularly within the machine design industry. His tenure as a Project Manager equipped him with invaluable skills in overseeing complex projects from conception to execution, ensuring efficiency and excellence at every step.

AL Circle: How do you foresee the growth of the aluminium industry in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in 2024? Do you expect a significant rise in business from that region, which is why you have opened a new Fives Services workshop in Bahrain this year?

Frédéric PEREIRA: The growth of the aluminium industry in the GCC region is influenced by various factors, including global economic conditions and demand from key sectors. According to CRU, there will be a strong growth in transport, electrical equipment and infrastructure triggered by the energy transition with the electrification of society. Moreover, the market has experienced a strong push towards low-carbon aluminium, and GCC smelters have started to decarbonise their operations as demand for green aluminium spikes. Opening a Fives Services workshop in Bahrain was a strategic move to capitalise on potential opportunities in the GCC region. More specifically, this workshop has two missions: to be local so that we can better support our customers in maintaining their existing Fives equipment and to be local support for all new projects in the region. For example, Fives recently won 2 projects with EGA and ALBA. For both of them, the local portion was entirely managed by Fives Services Gulf.

Fives Services Gulf is now 140 people, split over three countries, serving all countries of the GCC. Its main office is in Bahrain, where the workshop is located.

AL Circle: Do you experience heavy demand for machinery and equipment with the primary aluminium production expanding in the Gulf countries? Which Fives machine is most in demand?

Frédéric PEREIRA: The expansion of primary aluminium production in the Gulf indeed leads to increased customer demand towards Fives for machinery and equipment with advanced automation and control systems. This offers numerous advantages in harsh environments like aluminium smelting facilities, including improved safety, enhanced efficiency, precise control, real-time monitoring and diagnostics, data-driven insights, remote operation capabilities, adaptability, scalability, and integration with enterprise systems.

The demand for increasing capacity and extending the life of equipment fleet in primary aluminium in the Gulf countries is significant, especially as smelters aim to maximize the efficiency of their operations and minimize downtime. Several services related to maintenance, repair, and optimization of equipment and processes are in high demand.

AL Circle: Which leading Gulf aluminium companies have you worked with? Please brief us on the projects you have done for them.

Frédéric PEREIRA: We have worked with all smelter companies in the Gulf, like Alba, EGA, Maaden, Qatalum and Sohar. Fives has already engaged and planned to provide and upgrade several technologies across all these smelter areas. Given our customers' drivers, which are the increase in aluminium production and the tendency to be carbon neutral, Fives has been engaged in "creeping" projects on existing aluminium smelters and expansion or renewal of equipment fleets reaching the end of life.

AL Circle: Can you please introduce our readers to Fives’ Rhodax®4D crusher? How does it optimise the anode production process?

Frédéric PEREIRA: The Rhodax^® process is the result of two parallel developments started in the early 90s. In the early 2000s, Fives and Aluminium Pechiney (AP now Rio Tinto) joined their R&D efforts and co-patented the SCAP-RHODAX^® process.

The aim of this development was to drastically simplify the anode dry mix preparation process and make it fully automated to produce a high grain/sand ratio for better anode quality.

For the past 25 years, it has been a best-seller technology with nearly 3,0 Mt of anodes produced annually by 12 green anode plants worldwide, half of them operating in the GCC.

During these years and based on the return on experience from our customers, Fives identified the need for the evolution of this technology. Indeed, Carbon Operations face new challenges with external disturbances like variability in raw coke quality and continuous amperage creep, resulting in high anode current density and requiring higher stable anode quality.

Depending on how critical the situation is, Fives may propose several options, like the new Rhodax^® 4D or other Rhodax^® circuit upgrades, aiming to increase the crushing capability and flexibility of the circuits. These options are evaluated during a specific site audit where the current and future operation philosophy is reviewed with the customer, and the current Rhodax^® circuit performance is measured.

In 2023, Fives initiated the Rhodax^® Club to facilitate exchanges of customers’ experience of this technology and allow Fives to capture their needs for improvement better.

AL Circle: Please describe your technological advancements to decarbonise primary aluminium production. How are you helping the GCC aluminium industry meet its carbon emission goals?

Frédéric PEREIRA: To support our customers in their transition towards a green production of aluminium, we have introduced successful solutions that contribute to the environmental performance of smelters.

These innovations aim at limiting CO2 emissions per ton of aluminium produced by reducing energy consumption and polluting emissions while improving working conditions:

• The Helios Advanced Firing Control System (FCS) offers clean and efficient combustion in an anode baking furnace while significantly reducing NOx emissions.
• Digitisation across the whole carbon chain with Amelios Suite allows for better monitoring of anode quality in order to reduce Net Carbon Consumption. It potentially reduces the amount of CO2 emitted per ton of aluminium produced by 35 to 70 kg whilst also reducing anode production costs by 2.5%. As such, our Amelios Suite solution has been selected by the Solar Impulse Foundation as one of the #1,000 solutions to change the world.
• In the reduction area, CAFD Eco2 (Crust Alumina and Feeding Device) reduces anode effects and compressed air consumption of the smelter. The Ozeos filtering unit and the Cascade feeding system offer Fives’ GTC a level of HF (Hydrogen Fluoride) emissions and energy consumption unmatched on the market.

AL Circle: What is your further investment plan in the GCC countries? How do you plan to expand your business in this region?

Frédéric PEREIRA: Expanding Fives business operations in the GCC countries requires careful planning, market analysis, strategic partnerships, localization efforts, regulatory compliance, resource investment, and a customer-centric approach. We are looking to invest strategically and thoughtfully in the region, in order that our businesses can capitalize on opportunities for growth and success in the dynamic GCC markets. 

Fives Services Gulf has been operating in the GCC region for over 20 years, offering vital support to the aluminium production industry. While the Fives group is engaged in various sectors, including aluminium, our future investment plan aims to expand our services further and become a prominent provider for diverse industries such as oil and gas, steel, and logistics. Simultaneously, we are committed to enhancing our regional presence by establishing closer proximity to our customers.