The Aluminium Stewardship Initiative (ASI) announced earlier this week that prominent Middle East smelter Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. has been certified under the ASI Performance Standard.
The new certification by ASI covers Alba’s aluminium smelter as well as its calciner. Activities covered by the certification include production and marketing of primary aluminium from alumina, calcinations of petroleum coke, water desalination, anode manufacturing, smelting, casting, and captive power generation.
Alba is the second Gulf-based aluminium smelter to receive certification to date. The firm was certified 11 months ago as a Production and Transformation member of ASI.
Fiona Solomon, Chief Executive Officer at ASI, warmly greeted the news of ASI’s certification.
“Sincere congratulations to Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) on achieving ASI Certification, the second Gulf-based company to do so. Aluminium smelters are a critical step in the aluminium value chain, and their commitment to ASI Standards and sustainability and corporate social responsibility more broadly will underpin the value chain as a whole.”
“Green Aluminium is the future,” said Alba’s Acting Chief Executive Officer Ali Al Baqali. “The ASI Certification is a key milestone in our never-ending sustainability journey and recognizes our diligent commitment to produce aluminium responsibly and sustainably.”
The ASI Certification will give Alba a competitive edge as we seek to offer greater and sustainable Value-Added Products as we qualify for new customers with Line 6 metal ramp-up.”
ASI’s Performance Standard is the product of consultations with a multitude of stakeholders throughout the aluminium value chain, which ASI asserts is the sole comprehensive voluntary sustainability standard initiative in the aluminium sector. The certifications, which each last for three years, were audited by DNV GL of Norway.
The ASI is a worldwide organization dedicated to setting industrial standards and certifications in the aluminium industry. The association attempts to bring together the various stakeholders in the aluminium industry in order to achieve objectives including sustainable production methods, material chain-of-custody procedures, recycling, social impacts related to aluminium production, and production standards.
Alba is one of the largest industrial companies in the Middle East and is one of the top 10 largest aluminium producers in the world. Originally incorporated in 1968, the company is based in Bahrain and 84% of its total workforce are Bahraini nationals. It began operations in 1971 with a 120,000 metric ton annual capacity. Modernization bumped the output up to 450,000 metric tons in 1992. In the spring of 2005, Alba opened Line 5, raising output by 860,000 metric tons per year. In 2018 Alba’s smelter produced 1,011,101 metric tons of primary aluminium.