26 July 2015
RAS AL-KHAIR: Several international transport companies specialized in automobiles, aircraft and rail cars are planning to establish new assembly plants in Ras Al-Khair Industrial City.

 The development comes in the wake of the success achieved by the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) in increasing its production and imposing global competition in the production of aluminum ore, which is a fundamental nucleus in different means of transport, as well as everyday consumer products, such as foil, pots and cans.

 Maaden has provided all facilities and support to achieve the aspirations of local and international companies to establish strategic alliances in this regard to activate its plans and benefit from aluminum savings in the Kingdom and work on the establishment of transformative industrial complexes.

 Ras Al-Khair's planned factories will depend on molten aluminum savings in all forms that include aluminum alloys converted into aluminum sheets used in beverage and food cans and car bodies manufactured at Maaden Aluminum Complex in which investments reached SR40.5 billion.

These plans are supported by Maaden's success in commercial production and marketing for various world markets at a time when investment in the aluminum mining system has reached SR135 billion, including railways, power station, Ras Al-Khair Industrial City, and Waad Al-Shamal city.

 Investors are encouraged to conduct feasibility studies for their planned projects based on Maaden aluminum products. Many of them announced great reassurance to the success of their plans in light of the reliable ore supplies of the complex.

Maaden has achieved a great success in the packaging, construction materials and tools, and electricity sectors with investments totaling SR100 billion.

The Ras Al-Khair complex includes a smelter of aluminum for the production of rods, alloys and plates with an initial capacity of 740,000 tons per year, a rolling factory with initial production capacity ranging between 250,000 to 460,000 tons per year, in addition to bauxite mine with initial production capacity of 4 million tons per year, and alumina production refinery with an initial capacity of 1.8 million tons per year.

Maaden's total sales in 2014 recorded SR10,792 billion, including SR4.498 billion for aluminum sales. The company's international revenues are worth SR4.373 billion with a capacity of 516 tons marketed to Korea, Vietnam, China, Thailand, Brazil, the United States, Italy, Indonesia, the Netherlands, the UAE, Singapore, Switzerland, Hong Kong and Spain, compared to domestic sales of 15,000 tons with SR125 million revenues.

Moreover, Maaden goes steadily toward the leadership of the aluminum industry in the world to achieve its stated objectives, as well as national targets, after it launched the most efficient integrated plant for aluminum in the world, which includes bauxite mine, refinery, smelter and recycling unit, and a rolling factory.

With full operation, Maaden will be able to produce economic aluminum at a competitive cost. These successes are supported by the strategic port established at a cost of SR2.2 billion to connect the company's operations to global markets. The port services include more than 80 different industrial projects in the region.

Maaden has completed its mine-to-the market journey through the port successfully, in addition to its ability in the promotion of manufacturing industry, while the port receives and transfers industrial materials estimated at 4,895 million tons annually.

Globally, the economy is witnessing a remarkable growth in demand for aluminum, as well as bauxite, which is the raw material for aluminum. Industry observers expect that the production of bauxite will increase by 5.8 percent per year until 2018, in light of expectations of increased use of aluminum in transport, packaging, electricity industries, as well as the automobile industry trend to use aluminum instead of the traditional materials.

In addition, global aluminum consumption is likely to reach 55 million tons per year, with 5 percent annual increase. In addition, the global markets witness a structural change, especially in the rolled products, as the world's consumption from beverage cans sheets would reach 5.5 million tons, as well as 1.5 million tons for car sheets.

The market of beverage cans made of aluminum in the Middle East, Asia and Africa region will see a large growth in the near future.

To achieve an increase in efficiency levels in line with the environmental systems, the global automobile market is moving to expand the use of aluminum to reduce weight. According to CRU British Group, the use of rolled aluminum products in the US market is expected to achieve an exceptional growth from 150,000 tons per year in 2014 to reach more than one million tons in 2020.

This represents an increase in the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) by 37 percent during the next six years, since the current capacity represents 440,000 tons per year. The European market consumption is expected to grow from 310,000 tons per year in 2014 to 690,000 tons in 2020 with 14 percent CAGR over the next six years.

© Arab News 2015