UPDATE: Bahrain to import 2MT alumina per annum to feed its aluminium smelter

The small island country of Bahrain together with four other Gulf countries- the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar, has changed the face of the Gulf from being a solely oil driven economy to a manufacturing hub accounting for 10 per cent the world's total production of aluminium. About 40 per cent of the total aluminium production (5,229,115 tonnes) in GCC today is utilized by the downstream aluminium industries here while the rest 60 per cent gets exported to different parts of the world. Bahrain's prime aluminium producer Aluminium Bahrain (ALBA) is one of the world's largest aluminium smelters and is known for its technological strength and high quality aluminium.

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Alba operates 5 potlines and its total hot metal production capacity stands at 971,420 tonnes per annum. The smelter is currently running at full capacity but for alumina it has to rely on imports from the global market. Bahrain imported 150249.61 tonnes of alumina in 2015. In 2016, the import volume decreased by 12.7 per cent to total 131079.07 tonnes (estimated). In 2017, till October, the Middle East country is estimated to import around 124584.77 tonnes of alumina, up 18.16 per cent from the corresponding period previous year.

The total alumina import value in Bahrain has declined in 2016. The country imported alumina worth US$40.08 million last year (estimated), down 12.77 per cent from US$45.9 million in 2015. In 2017, till October, Bahrain is estimated to purchase alumina worth US$34.13 million from the international sellers, up 5.86 per cent from the corresponding period previous year.

However, as per relaible industry sources, Bahrain would be importing about 2 million tonnes of alumina  per year to feed its smelter. This alumina would mostly come from Australia, India and Saudi Arabia.

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Bahrain procured the entire volume of alumina (131079.07 tonnes) for its operations from the USA in 2016. In 2015, the country imported 14.22 tonnes of alumina from India, around 4 tonnes from the UK, and the rest 150231.4 tonnes from the USA.