Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) awarded international construction firm Bechtel Co. Ltd. the contract to conduct a feasibility study for the upcoming Line 7 Project on Monday.
Alba confirmed the contract award at a virtual meeting with Bechtel officials at which many other topics of shared interest were discussed as well.
In a press release, Chairman Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa said that this agreement is yet another in a long partnership with Bechtel.
“We are delighted of the partnership we have developed with Bechtel throughout the years, which has translated into awarding them Line 7 Project’s Feasibility Study. This proposed project underlines our ambition to grow organically and will further cement our position as one of the largest environment-friendly smelters in the world.”
Bechtel’s Mining & Metals President Ailie MacAdam expressed her firm’s happiness over securing the contract with longtime partner Alba.
“We are excited to continue to support Alba on developing new Aluminium capacity in Bahrain. It is a great honour to continue our 30-year relationship with Alba, innovating Aluminium production and providing jobs and training opportunities.”
Alba says the study should be finished next fall. Should results of the study be favorable, the Line 7 Project is planned to build a new aluminium smelting line with a yearly capacity of around 540 thousand metric tons.
Alba is one of the largest industrial companies in the Middle East and is the world’s biggest aluminium smelter outside the People’s Republic of China. 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 2021 Alba’s smelter produced 1,561,222 metric tons of primary aluminium.