Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) achieved a new high-water mark in production volume last year, clocking a per-annum production rate of 1,011,101 metric tons. The record exceeded the firm’s production target by over 11 thousand metric tons per annum. The 2018 result was a rise of 3 percent over 2017’s production volume of 981,016 metric tons per annum.
Last year’s run rate also represents the seventh straight year Alba’s production volume surpassed that of the year before it. In 2012 the smelter achieved a run rate of 890,217 metric tons per annum, rising to 971, 420 metric tons per annum in 2016.
Speaking at a ceremony to mark the occasion earlier today, Alba’s CEO Tim Murray indicated that the coming year would see an even more substantial jump in production.
“Exceeding 1 million metric tonnes for the 1st time in Alba’s history and making Bahrain proud is a testament to our dedicated workforce. This achievement could not have been accomplished without our unwavering commitment to Safety. My sincere thanks to all our employees and contractors for their extreme ownership in achieving this milestone. We also look forward to successfully complete the commissioning of Line 6 in 2019, which will take our production capacity to 1,500,000 mtpa and make Alba the largest smelter in the world.”
Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C., or simply 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.