Sohar Hosts Gulf Aluminium Dinner 2020 in Oman

The annual appointment with the Gulf Aluminium Dinner will be held in Oman and will be an opportunity to explore in greater depth the development trends of the aluminium industry in the Gulf, focusing on the major strategic issues of environmental sustainability, innovation and local development of the aluminium supply chain

by Roberto Guccione

The Gulf Aluminium Dinner, organized by the Gulf Aluminium Council directed by Mahmood Daylami, will be held on March 18th in Muscat, Oman at the Al Bustan Palace. The main sponsors of the event are Sohar and Qatalum, together with partners Alba, EGA and Ma’aden. The event has become an appointment not to be missed for international aluminium operators and brings together leaders of the aluminium industries and the organizations that have business interests to a unique setting with the objective of helping to better understand latest industrial and economic developments in the region while establishing new contacts and consolidating the existing relationships at the highest level and exploring and expanding business opportunities. Gulf Dinner speaker will be Mr. Mathew Chamberlain, CEO, LME.
The Gulf Aluminium Council is a coordinating body that represents, promotes and protects the interests of the aluminium industry within the Gulf, with a Board comprising the CEOs of the member companies: Alba, EGA, Sohar, Ma’aden and Qatalum. Its main objectives are to provide a forum to develop strategies for common issues and concerns facing the aluminium industry in the region, and to share best practices so as to improve the efficiency of the industry.

Alba promotes expansion and sustainability
GAC member companies are increasingly central for the global aluminium production, and 2019 brought important news for the Gulf aluminium industry, one of the largest ‘non-oil’ production industries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. First and foremost on account of the important increase in production capacity.
GCC countries produced 5,771,854 tons of primary aluminium in 2019. All the GCC primary aluminium producers reported an increase in their 2019 production compared to 2018 with an exceptional increase by Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) as a result of US$ 3 billion Line 6 Expansion Project. Alba commissioned its Potline 6 within 23 months, becoming the world’s largest aluminium smelter ex-China and one of the fastest expansion projects to be commissioned in the aluminium industry.
Moreover, the company has successfully achieved ASI Performance Certification and has been distinguished with the ‘Bronze Medal’ 2020 by the international rating platform EcoVadis in recognition of its commitment and performance in terms of environmental and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Based on international CSR standards including the Global Reporting Initiative, the United Nations Global Compact, and the ISO 26000, covering 190 spending categories and 150 countries, the EcoVadis certification takes into consideration four areas: Environment, Labor Practices, Fair Business and Sustainable Procurement.
But Alba’s development plan is not going to stop and it will also involve Italian companies. Alba’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa was part of the delegation led by Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa which visited Italy at the beginning of February 2020. The delegation visited Italy to explore further expansion and partnership opportunities with Italian-based companies through high-level meetings between senior business executives and government representatives. Alba’s Chairman met with key Italian companies, including Fluorsid S.p.A., FATA S.p.A. and Techmo Car S.P.C., where Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)s were signed to advance commercial opportunities for both parties.
Alba has an existing contract with Fluorsid for the supply of 15,000 to 20,000 tonnes of ‘smelter grade’ Aluminium Fluoride, around 70% of Alba’s yearly requirements. FATA is the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor for Alba’s Port Capacity Upgrade Project, part of Alba Line 6 Expansion Project, while Techmo is a producer of high-end mobile and stationary equipment for the aluminium and metal production sector and enjoys a long-standing commercial relationship with Alba.

EGA signs agreements in Asia and strengthens top management
EGA, which 40 years after the production of the first ton of aluminium in the United Arab Emirates is now the main light metal manufacturer in the Gulf with smelters in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, ushered in 2020 by announcing an important strengthening of the Group’s leadership and evaluating new strategic alliances.
The Board of Emirates Global Aluminium announced the appointment of Abdulla Jassem Kalban as Managing Director and Abdulnasser Ibrahim Saif Bin Kalban as Chief Executive Officer. The appointments are effective from January 2020. Abdulla Jassem Kalban, former Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, takes responsibility for EGA’s achievement of its strategic objectives and will remain a Board member of EGA. As Chief Executive Officer, Abdulnasser Ibrahim Saif Bin Kalban is responsible for managing EGA’s ongoing operations and business and reports to the Managing Director.
As regards strategic alliances, EGA explores smelter in Indonesia and signed a memorandum of understanding with PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (INALUM) targeting the licensing of UAE-developed EGA technology to the Indonesian company, and co-operation on the upgrade of an existing INALUM smelter and the development of a new greenfield aluminium smelter in Indonesia.