Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) Line 6 Expansion Project has gained further momentum with the handover of 172 pots for commissioning on 01 March 2019 – bringing Alba one step closer to become the world’s largest smelter.

Commenting on this occasion, Alba’s Chairman of Board of Directors, Shaikh Daij Bin Salman Bin Daij Al Khalifa, said: 

“We are pleased to announce that Potline 6 is now in full ramp-up mode with the handover of the next set of 172 pots for commissioning. Once the start-up of the additional 172 pots is complete, Alba will have commissioned a total of 212 pots (50% of Potline 6 capacity).  We look forward to see the positive financial benefits that this additional capacity will bring to our bottom-line.”

-Ends-

About Alba

Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), one of the 1 million-metric tonnes smelters in the world, is one of the largest aluminium producers in the world. Alba is listed on both the Bahrain Bourse and London Stock Exchange, and the Company’s shareholders are Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company (69.38%), SABIC Industrial Investment Company (20.62%) and the General Public (10%).

Starting-out as a 120,000 metric tonne per annum (mtpa) smelter in 1971, Alba’s production for 2018 stood at plus-1 million metric tonnes. Alba’s product portfolio comprises high-grade aluminium and Value-Added Products that include standard and T-ingots, extrusion billets, rolling slabs, properzi ingots and molten aluminium. The Company is well-known for its strong Safety culture, employee development and work culture for value-creation and sustainable operations. 

About Line 6 Expansion Project 

The pride of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Line 6 Expansion Project will make Alba the world’s largest aluminium smelter.

With the First Hot Metal from Potline 6 achieved on 13 December 2018, Alba is now amongst the 1 million-metric tonne smelters in the world. Upon completion in 2019, the Line 6 Expansion Project will boost Alba’s per-annum production by 540,000 metric tonnes, bringing Alba’s total production capacity to 1.5 million metric tonnes per year.

Alba’s Line 6 Expansion Project is one of the biggest brownfield developments in the Middle East Region. With a CAPEX of approximately US$ 3 billion, the Line 6 Expansion Project involves the construction of a sixth pot line using EGA’s proprietary DX+ Ultra Technology, a 1,792 MW Power Station (Power Station 5) utilising the world’s first H-class General Electric (GE) 9HA Gas Turbine (GT) and other industrial services.

Bechtel is the EPCM contractor for the Line 6 Expansion Project smelter. For Power Station 5 (PS 5), GE and GAMA Consortium was awarded the EPC contract, while Siemens is the Power Distribution System contractor.  J.P. Morgan, Gulf International Bank (GIB) and National Bank of Bahrain (NBB) are the Financial Advisors for this Project. In June 2015, Alba Board approved the Line 6 Expansion Project and in November 2015, Alba secured the natural gas supply for this Project.

Alba successfully closed a US$ 1.5 Billion syndicated term-loan facility comprising two tranches Conventional Facility & and Islamic Facility in October 2016. The 1st tranche of the Export Credit Agencies (ECA) Financing of c. US$ 700 million for Euler Hermes and SERV-covered facilities was closed in July 2017 while the first part of 2nd ECA-tranche of EUR 204.5 million for Bpifrance Assurance Export (“BpiAE”) and Euler Hermes-covered facilities was secured in April 2018.  Alba successfully closed the final instalment of the 2nd ECA-tranche - c.US$136 million and c. EUR90 million from ECA supported-facilities - by end of 2018.

As of 31 January 2019, Line 6 Smelter’s Overall Progress advanced by 83.5% (Engineering progressed by more than 98% while Contracts and Procurement advanced by 98%); Power Station 5 & Power Distribution System Overall Progress exceeded 85% and by over 97% respectively.

Line 6 Expansion Project will be transformational for the Kingdom of Bahrain as it will significantly boost employment opportunities for Bahrainis at both Alba and the local downstream market. It will also present many co-investment opportunities through local and foreign aluminium investments in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Alba External Grievance Mechanism

Alba, in line with the Performance Standards of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank affiliated lending organisation, has launched its External Grievance Mechanism to receive and facilitate the resolution of the affected communities’ concerns and grievances about Alba’s Environment and Social (E&S) performance.

External grievances about Alba’s E&S performance can be logged via the Alba Integrity Line - an independently operated confidential reporting hotline in multiple languages - via a toll-free phone system or via the intranet 24 hours a day, every day. 

For further details, please contact:

Shreedevi Menon

Corporate Communication Officer

Investor Relations Department

Tel:         (973) 1783 7357

E-mail:   shreedevi@alba.com.bh 

Website: www.albasmelter.com 

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© Press Release 2019

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