The head of Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) met with his peer at Bechtel last week to discuss a wide range of projects of mutual benefit to their firms.
Meeting at Bahrain’s Ritz Carlton during the Gulf Aluminium Council Dinner was Alba chair Salman Al Khalifa; Alba’s CEO Ali Al Baqali; Bechtel president of Mining & Metals Global Business Unit Ailie MacAdam; Bechtel’s President of Europe, Africa, and Middle East Region Justin Siberell; and Bechtel’s Regional Manager Mark Ashwin. Among the areas of discussion was Alba’s Proposed Line 7 Project.
Alba’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Shaikh Daij bin Salman bin Daij Al Khalifa, said in a related press release that his firm was preparing for a bright future in aluminium.
“Aluminium is the metal of the future, and we are here to continue making it available through our soon-to-be investment in Line 7. Moving ahead with our organic growth strategy, the Proposed Line 7 will add more ‘environmentally friendly’ production capacity to Alba’s nameplate capacity of 1.561 million metric tonnes.”
“With the continuous support of the Kingdom’s leadership and the vision of HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa the Crown Prince and Prime Minister and with the successful conclusion of the Pre-Feasibility Study, we are keen to capitalise on our experience from the Line 6 Expansion Project to make the future Line 7 another success story for Bahrain and Alba,” he concluded.
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.