Mumtalakat-Synergies Castings JV to set up aluminium plant in Bahrain

Mumtalakat and Synergies Castings have formed a Joint Venture to build a downstream aluminium facility in Bahrain, the chief executive of the kingdom's sovereign fund said on Wednesday, November 18.

The $150 million worth aluminium casting and specialty alloy wheel manufacturing plant will take around 18 months to come up and is expected to open by 2017 end, updated Mahmood al-Kooheji.

"There is a secure channel for the products as they have the customer demand, which will make it very easy to make profits," said Kooheji. The JV is Synergies Castings’ first foray outside India, added Kooheji. The company supplies alloy wheels to leading car companies- General Motors, Ford and Toyota, to name a few.

The aluminium plant will have an annual production capacity of around 25,000 metric tonnes, equivalent to around 2 million wheel alloys. The JV is split 51/49 percent between Synergies Castings and Mumtalakat.

Mumtalakat, the investment arm of the Kingdom of Bahrain, is in the process of securing loans from Bahraini banks to finance the construction of the project. Kooheji said the amount of cash to be raised from banks would be determined later.

Mumtalakat has been has been making steady headway to develop Bahrain's downstream aluminium industry. The fund's head of industries and services said earlier this week that it was close to buying 49 percent of Spanish aluminium products group Aleastur. The fund owns the kingdom's stake in Aluminium Bahrain, which is currently expanding production capacity of the metal to 1.45 million tonnes per annum.

Kooheji said they were considering a number of other deals to boost the aluminium downstream sector that would absorb the excess aluminium currently flooding the global aluminium market.