Emirates Global Aluminium PJSC (EGA) announced yesterday the reception of the inaugural shipment of caustic soda for use in the Al Taweelah alumina refinery as it nears completion.
The refinery, which covers an area equal to 200 football fields and utilizes enough steel to build 7 Eiffel Towers, is expected to require around 130,000 metric tons of caustic soda upon full ramp-up. The caustic soda will initially be imported until Shaheen Chem Investments LLC’s chemical plant adjacent to Al Taweelah. Upon completion, Shaheen’s plant will provide the entirety of Al Taweelah’s caustic soda needs.
EGA’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Abdulla Kalban noted the development as a sign that the Al Taweelah alumina refinery is approaching completion.
“Whilst construction continues in many areas of Al Taweelah alumina refinery, we are steadily moving into commissioning completed equipment and sections. Importing the first of these raw materials is an important milestone in this immense effort to develop alumina refining as a new industrial activity in the UAE.”
Once complete, Al Taweelah will have a nameplate capacity of 2 million metric tons of alumina per year, requiring 5 million metric tons of bauxite ore, most of which will be imported from Africa. At present, over 10,000 people are employed at the plant, which has a project budget of US$3.3 billion.
Based in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Emirates Global Aluminium is an aluminium conglomerate created by the merger between Dubai Aluminium (DUBAL) and Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) in 2013. EGA had an estimated enterprise value of US$15 billion at the time the merger took place. The firm is owned equally by Mubadala Development Company of Abu Dhabi and Investment Corporation of Dubai. Emirates Global Aluminium holds interests in bauxite/alumina and primary aluminium smelting. The firm produces around 2.6 million metric tons per year of cast aluminium, placing it at the third largest ex-China smelter.