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United Arab Emirates: Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company outside oil and gas, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Abu Dhabi Ports, to work together to develop opportunities for Abu Dhabi Ports to upgrade ports, logistics infrastructure and services abroad used by EGA to load raw materials destined for the UAE.
The agreement could lead to new international business opportunities for Abu Dhabi Ports, enable more efficient shipping for EGA, and spur economic growth around the ports by creating opportunities for other trade.
The agreement was signed at EGA’s headquarters at Al Taweelah in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi by Captain Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi, Chief Executive Officer of Abu Dhabi Ports, and Abdulla Kalban, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of EGA.
Captain Al Shamisi said: “What we want to create are win-win-win opportunities for Abu Dhabi Ports, EGA, and port operators and their communities around the world. Abu Dhabi Ports’ expertise in developing ports and interest in investing internationally, combined with EGA’s demand to use port facilities, should make upgrade projects economically attractive to the benefit of everybody. We greatly anticipate the potential chance to showcase our capabilities in foreign ports and to expand our presence overseas.”
Abdulla Kalban said: “EGA already works with Abu Dhabi Ports at Khalifa Port in Abu Dhabi and at Kamsar in the Republic of Guinea. This MoU paves the way for further opportunities through which Abu Dhabi Ports can develop its international business, whilst lowering EGA’s shipping costs through the upgrading of the ports that we use. Securing raw materials at competitive prices depends not just on good relationships with suppliers but also on ease of shipping, so we look forward to developing these opportunities for Abu Dhabi Ports to invest to the benefit of both our businesses and the local economies around these ports.”
In December EGA signed a long-term port facility agreement with Abu Dhabi Ports to import bauxite for EGA’s Al Taweelah alumina refinery at Khalifa Port using the world’s largest bulk cargo ships, known as Capesize vessels.
The agreement, and the security of demand it creates, is enabling Abu Dhabi Ports to invest to develop the port to become the first in the Gulf capable of directly handling these massive ships, reducing EGA’s shipping costs and opening opportunities for other trade. The dredging will deepen the channel to 18.5 metres and basin to 18.0 metres basis zero tide. EGA plans to use large dry bulk ships to import raw materials without the need to transfer all or some of the cargo to smaller vessels outside the port, reducing long-term shipping costs and improving environmental performance.
EGA shipped approximately 6 million tonnes of bulk raw materials such as alumina, coke and pitch from some 20 ports worldwide last year. Bottlenecks at ports that can reduce the efficiency of shipping can range from shallow channels that only allow smaller vessels to berth, to manual rather than automatic loading, to limited rail capacity reaching the port itself.
Abu Dhabi Ports is the operator of a container quay that EGA has built at Kamsar in Guinea. EGA is using the quay to unload materials and equipment for the construction of a bauxite mine. Once construction is complete, the container quay will be opened to other trade. EGA’s site is the biggest industrial facility at KIZAD and covers an area five times the size of Al Marayah Island in Abu Dhabi. EGA also operates an aluminium smelter at Jebel Ali in Dubai.
About EGA
Emirates Global Aluminium is equally-owned by Mubadala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi and the Investment Corporation of Dubai.
It is the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside the oil and gas industry, and the largest company jointly owned by the two Emirates.
EGA’s aluminium is the second largest made-in-the UAE export after oil and gas. EGA has a production capacity of 2.5 million tonnes of aluminium per year. EGA is the only UAE producer and makes the UAE the fifth largest aluminium producing nation in the world.
EGA has more than 350 customers in over 60 countries. About 80 per cent of EGA’s production is value added products, one of the highest proportions of any aluminium company in the world.
EGA’s aluminium is primarily used in the construction, automotive, packaging, aerospace and electronics industries.
Over 10 per cent of EGA’s 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 already employs around 30,000 people, making it the largest employer amongst the UAE’s energy intensive industries.
EGA itself employs around 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, Emirates Global Aluminium 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.
EGA was formed in 2014 through the merger of Dubai Aluminium and Emirates Aluminium.
DUBAL’s Jebel Ali aluminium smelter began production in 1979. At almost five square kilometres, EGA’s Jebel Ali 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 5,450 megawatts, making EGA the third largest electricity generator in the UAE after the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority.
EGA also produces water through desalination units at its power plants. In addition to meeting its own water requirements, EGA supplies 1.5 per cent of the water needs of Dubai as well as commercial water customers and bottlers.
Today EGA is expanding upstream and internationally to secure the natural resources the UAE’s aluminium industry needs and create new revenue streams.
EGA’s wholly-owned subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation is building a bauxite mine and associated export infrastructure in the Republic of Guinea in West Africa, in one of the largest greenfield investments in that country in over 40 years.
In the UAE, EGA is building the country’s first alumina refinery at Al Taweelah. The project will reduce the UAE’s dependence on imported alumina and supply 75 per cent of the Al Taweelah smelter’s needs.
For more information on EGA please visit www.ega.ae.
About Abu Dhabi Ports
Established in 2006, Abu Dhabi Ports, the master developer, operator and manager of commercial and community ports within the emirate of Abu Dhabi, in addition to the Port of Fujairah, as well as the trade and logistics hub, Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (KIZAD), in which Khalifa Port Free Trade Zone attracts direct investments to over 100 km2 of free zone opportunities, the largest in the Middle East region.
Inaugurated on Dec 12, 2012 by President of the UAE, HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Khalifa Port is the flagship port of Abu Dhabi Ports and is considered to be the first semi-automated container port in the region. Abu Dhabi Ports also owns 50% of Abu Dhabi Terminals, which operates and manages Khalifa Port Container Terminal with a full suite of logistics solutions to benefit trade partners and shipping lines. In addition to the current capacity of 2.5 million TEUs, the recent deal Abu Dhabi Ports signed with COSCO SHIPPING Ports Limited, which is expected to commence operations by 2019, will raise the annual capacity to 6 million TEUs in both container terminals.
Abu Dhabi Ports’ subsidiaries include Abu Dhabi Marine Services “SAFEEN”, providing a comprehensive range of marine, navigational and ancillary quayside services as well as VTS Services and fleet maintenance in a safe, secure and efficient manner; Maqta Gateway, developer and operator of the first port community in the emirate; and Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal, the first permanent cruise terminal in the region. To meet the increasing demand of cruise liners and passengers, Sir Bani Yas Cruise Beach was developed, offerings cruise ship passengers a new beach destination with unmatched tourism experiences. Additionally, Abu Dhabi Ports also manages the Maritime Training Centre at Musaffah Port.
Follow us on twitter: @AbuDhabiPorts
Contacts at EGA:
Simon Buerk
056 3111 536
Fatima Al Mutawa
050 327 7545
Khadija Al Marzooqi
050 8777 850
Sahar Farhat
050 1213 420
Ameera Al Marzooqi
050 957 9672
© Press Release 2018
