Finnish mining operations and technology firm Outotec announced on Thursday that it has signed a contract with Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. to design and deliver an anode rodding shop facility for the firm’s smelter-expansion project.
Outotec declined to offer a price for the contract, but it did point out the fact that it is the largest order the firm has landed in nearly two years, and will be reflected on the company’s order intake for the opening quarter of 2017.
The company has agreed to building a fully-equipped anode rodding shop and a bath and butts material recycling facility. It will also conduct process engineering, delivery of proprietary and non-proprietary equipment, procurement, and construction. Outotech claims that, once the facility is fully operational, it will be the most modern rodding shop on Earth.
“This order from ALBA further strengthens our reputation as a provider of high capacity rodding shops for the needs of increasingly large aluminium smelters,” explained Kalle Härkki, President – Metals, Energy & Water business unit. “When delivering the entire rodding shop facility for ALBA’s expansion project, we will ensure a high operational efficiency for our customer.”
The shop is part of Alba’s project to expand capacity from 971 thousand metric tons per annum to 1.5 million metric tons per annum. The new capacity is slated to come online in January 2019.
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 87% 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. Maximum output for the smelter is in the neighborhood of 1.2 million metric tons per year.