DUBAI, March 16 (Reuters) - Aluminium production in the Middle East is expected to exceed 3 million tonnes per year(tpy) by the end of 2010, the chairman of the newly formed GulfAluminium Council (GAC) Abdulla Kalban said on Tuesday.
Current production in the region was pegged at about 2million tpy which made up about 5-6 percent of the global production capacity, he said.
Kalban said global aluminium demand, which is expected togrow by 12 percent this year, was being driven by construction,transportation and packaging sectors.
Global demand was expected to remain relatively robustdespite moves by China to tighten bank lending and raise capitalrequirements for domestic banks, said Kalban, who is also thepresident and chief executive of Dubai Aluminium (Dubal).
China has been a principal driver of the global economicrecovery, having spent heavily on stiumulus packages last yearas the mature economies of the United States and Europe grappledwith the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
"We are bullish about the market for 2010, 2011, the signsare encouraging," Kalban told a press conference.
SMELTER INVESTMENTS
The United Arab Emirates has invested around $20-$22 billion in developing new smelter capacity, Kalban said, which was morethan half of the total investments in the region which includedplants in Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Aluminium production in the region was currently around 2million tpy.
New capacity which was expected to come online this yearincluded the UAE's Emirate's Aluminium which is expected to hitits production target of 700,000 tpy for phase one by Decemberand Qatar's 585,000 tpy smelter which will hit its target by theend of the third-quarter or early in the fourth-quarter. Demand in the region is expected to be fuelled by theconstruction sectors in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, he said
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