Saudi Arabia becomes an export hub for aluminium scrap in the East

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has positioned itself as a major hub for scrap metal recycling. However, despite that Saudi Arabia exports most of the scrap it generates.

According to the recent estimate, in 2015, Saudi Arabia exported 211,045 tons of aluminium scrap globally. The top importers are India, Pakistan, South Korea, Brazil and USA. Domestically, the country has exported a substantial amount to UAE.  Notably, India alone imported 107,248 tons of aluminium scrap from Saudi Arabia.

The total cost of the export amounts to about US$ 440 million tons.

Compared to 2015, in 2016, Saudi Arabia is estimated to export an estimated 232,862 tons of aluminium scrap globally. The top importers are India, Pakistan, South Korea, Brazil and USA.  The total cost of the export amounts to US$ 525 million tons for the estimated amount.  This records a growth of 10.3 % YOY. India imported 117,855 tons of aluminium scrap from Saudi Arabia in 2016(estimated).

On an YTD comparison, Saudi Arabia exported an estimated 116,080 tons of aluminium scrap from January to June in 2016 which recorded a growth of 7.3 % from 108,112 tons of aluminium scrap exported in the same period of 2015.

Saudi Arabia houses Ma’aden Aluminium (MA), a joint venture between the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) and Alcoa that started operations in 2014. The US$10.8b project is expected to be the largest and most efficient integrated aluminium complex in the world once it is completed.

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MA’s facilities include a bauxite mine, an alumina refinery, aluminium smelter, can sheet rolling mill and automotive mill at Ras Al Khair, 90 km north of Jubail in the Eastern Province.

The Ma’aden rolling mill has capacity to produce 380,000 mtpy of rolled products like food grade can sheet and construction applications. MA also has a can recycling unit with a capacity to recycle 120,000 mtpy of UBC and it is expected to boost a new recycling industry in Saudi Arabia.

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