GCC aluminum capacity to hit 5 million tonnes

Trade Arabia reported that the production capacity of GCC aluminum smelters is expected to increase to 5 million tonnes per year by 2015.

Mr Walid Al Attar executive VP marketing and sales of Dubai Aluminum Company Limited and Emirates Aluminum Company Limited said that the 5 existing GCC smelters produced 3.6 million tonnes of aluminum in 2010 and only 606,000 tonnes or just 16.7% of the total was consumed locally.

He was delivering a presentation entitled Market challenges facing smelters in the Middle East during a panel discussion at the Aluminum Summit in New York last week.

Mr Al Attar said that “When you consider that the GCC smelters use state of the art reduction technologies and that their environmental standards equal or better the world’s best, it stands to reason that the Middle East will be a preferred source for aluminum. Marketing the additional volumes coming on stream is therefore more of an opportunity than a challenge.”

He pinpointed out that the negative influence of the prevailing market tariffs on global export flows of metal as being the greatest challenge to the Middle East aluminum industry. The tariffs in Europe, in particular are restricting the market and distorting optimum flows. The same tariffs are placing a cost-burden on consumers on Europe, making this region the least competitive of all the major markets in terms of price.

He said that for the Middle East, which has a production surplus and thus substantial export capacity, the tariffs pose a barrier to maximized, mutually beneficial trade. This is unfortunate as the Middle East is perfectly located to serve Europe. Indeed, Dubal and Emal have an existing, well established logistics infrastructure that allows us to ship our metal into all the major markets across the world which again translates into growth in marketing opportunities.

Mr Al Attar said that the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi currently under construction on 417 square kilometers site adjacent to Khalifa Port at Taweelah holds enormous promise for the GCC region. Kizad will play a key role in realising Abu Dhabi’s Vision 2030 for economic diversification, in support of which Dubal and Emal are pro-actively promoting a long-term sustainable downstream aluminum consuming industry in the UAE. Not only is Kizad targeting industries that support the country’s vision, but it is also ideally located in terms of access to sea and airports in the UAE while providing ready access to 2.84 billion consumers in four of the global time zones; and offers a low operating cost environments plus ease of doing business.

He said that through Kizad, the Middle East aluminum industry will move into the next phase of the maturity curve, with inherently greater marketing opportunities. The invitation to speak at The Aluminum Summit was a singular honour. It reflected the growing importance that the Middle East is playing in the global aluminum industry and the increasing interest in the region among aluminum players across the industry spectrum.