Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industry company in the United Arab Emirates outside of oil and gas, has agreed to supply CelestiAL solar aluminium to Kobe Steel to make automotive body sheet for Nissan.

The agreement with Kobe Steel will see the supply of EGA’s CelestiAL solar aluminium to one of the largest rolling mills in Japan. Automotive body sheet is used by the giant Japanese automaker to form vehicle body panels such as doors and bonnets.

EGA currently supplies thousands of tonnes of aluminium to Kobe Steel every year, in a business relationship that stretches back more than 25 years.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of EGA, said: “EGA was the first company in the world to make aluminium using solar power, and we are proud that our CelestiAL metal will now be used in Nissan vehicles through Kobe Steel, as well as those of other leading global car companies. We look forward to increasing our production of CelestiAL over the years ahead, contributing to the decarbonisation of EGA and of end user industries including auto manufacturing. I thank Kobe Steel for their continuing trust in EGA and our metal.”

In 2021, EGA became the first company in the world to produce aluminium commercially using solar power through a partnership with Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, which operates the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in the desert outside Dubai.

EGA expects to vastly increase its production of CelestiAL through an initiative with Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC (TAQA), Dubal Holding and Emirates Water and Electricity Company (EWEC) to divest its electricity generation assets and instead source power from the grid, including an increasing proportion of clean energy.

The new steady power demand from EGA would increase the predictability of the overall power system, and advance EWEC’s development of new solar energy projects. The scale of the expansion is expected to be greater than the current total installed solar generation capacity in the UAE and EGA would utilise this additional solar power once it is developed.

The use of solar power in producing EGA’s CelestiAL solar aluminium significantly reduces the emissions associated with aluminium smelting and provides an opportunity for end users to reduce their Scope 3 emissions.

The deal with Kobe Steel follows CelestiAL supply agreements with BMW Group and Mercedes-Benz parts-maker Hammerer Aluminum Industries. 

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Contacts at EGA:
Simon Buerk
sbuerk@ega.ae

About EGA

 Since 1975, when it was founded as Dubai Aluminium by His Highness Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Emirates Global Aluminium has been innovating aluminium to make modern life possible.

Today EGA is the world’s biggest ‘premium aluminium’ producer and the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside the oil and gas industry.

EGA is equally-owned by Mubadala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi and the Investment Corporation of Dubai. It is the largest company jointly owned by the two Emirates.

EGA is an integrated aluminium producer, with operations from bauxite mining to the production of cast primary aluminium. EGA operates aluminium smelters in Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah, an alumina refinery in Al Taweelah and a bauxite mine and associated export facilities in the Republic of Guinea.

EGA’s aluminium is the second largest made-in-the UAE export after oil and gas. In 2021, EGA sold 2.54 million tonnes of cast metal. EGA is the only UAE producer and makes the UAE the fifth largest aluminium producing nation in the world.

EGA has more than 400 customers in over 50 countries. In 2021, value-added products accounted for 84 per cent of EGA’s cast metal sales.

EGA’s aluminium is primarily used in the construction, automotive, packaging, aerospace and electronics industries.

Around 10 per cent of EGA’s aluminium production is sold in the UAE to around 26 downstream aluminium companies that make products with EGA’s aluminium. The growing broader aluminium sector in the UAE supports 60,950 jobs. EGA itself employs over 7,000 of these people including almost 1,200 UAE Nationals.

EGA has focused on technology development for over 25 years. EGA has used its own technology for every smelter expansion since the 1990s and has retrofitted all its older production lines. In 2016 EGA became the first UAE industrial company to licence its core industrial process technology internationally.

As a corporate citizen of the UAE, EGA aspires in all its operations to be measured amongst the world’s leading metals and mining companies in meeting its environmental and social responsibilities. In 2017, EGA became the first Middle East headquartered company to join the Aluminium Stewardship Initiative, a global programme to foster greater sustainability and transparency in the aluminium industry. In 2019, EGA’s Al Taweelah site became the first in the Middle East to receive certification from ASI for its sustainability practices and performance. EGA’s Jebel Ali site was certified in 2021. ASI certification is the aluminium industry’s internationally recognised standard for environmental and social performance and governance.

In 2021, EGA began production of CelestiAL solar aluminium, produced with solar power from the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park on the outskirts of Dubai. EGA is the first company in the world to make aluminium commercially using the power of the sun.

EGA was formed in 2014 through the merger of Dubai Aluminium and Emirates Aluminium.

EGA’s Jebel Ali aluminium smelter began production as DUBAL in 1979. At almost five square kilometres, this site is five times bigger than Dubai Mall.

EMAL started production in 2009 and its Al Taweelah aluminium smelter was the largest single-site aluminium smelter in the world when completed. EGA’s Al Taweelah site is five times bigger than Al Maryah Island at six square kilometres.

EGA has its own power stations at both sites, producing electricity to meet its needs. EGA’s electricity generation capacity is 6,474 megawatts, making EGA the third largest electricity generator in the UAE after the Dubai and Abu Dhabi utilities. EGA also produces water through desalination units at its power plants.

EGA began production at Al Taweelah alumina refinery in April 2019. EGA’s alumina refinery is the first in the UAE and only the second in the Middle East. The project reduces the UAE’s dependence on imported alumina and supplies over 40 per cent of EGA’s needs.

Bauxite exports from Guinea Alumina Corporation, EGA’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Guinea, began in August 2019. The GAC project was one of the largest greenfield investments in Guinea in over 40 years. 

For more information on EGA please visit www.ega.ae.