Gulf Extrusions sees demand for aluminium products rising in Egypt

The United Arab Emirates's Gulf Extrusions, one of the largest aluminium product makers in the Gulf, said on Wednesday it would set up a commercial office in Egypt before the end of the year to take advantage of a growing market boosted by housing sector demand.

The firm, part of the Al Ghurair Group, said it could see the market for extruded aluminium products in Egypt rising from 85,000 tonnes a year to around 300,000 tonnes in coming years, largely because of the need to build one million housing units a year there until 2020.

"There will be a big leap and it will drive the demand for extruded aluminium products in the region as well," general manager Modar al-Mekdad told Reuters on the sidelines of the CRU Aluminium Conference in Dubai.

"We already sell our products there through our local customers but we want to have a legal set-up so that we have direct contact with the Egyptian market," Mekdad said.

Gulf Extrusions has output of 50,000 tonnes a year through its Dubai plant and another plant is being built in Abu Dhabi, close to the Emirates Aluminium smelter. The new plant is to be operational in the last quarter of 2015, taking production up to 75,000 tonnes a year and 100,000 tonnes by the end of 2016.