EGA licensing UAE-developed technology and joint development of brownfield and greenfield smelter projects in Indonesia

United Arab Emirates: Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, and PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (INALUM), the only and largest integrated aluminium company in Indonesia, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding targeting the licensing of UAE-developed EGA technology to the Indonesian company, and co-operation on the upgrade of an existing INALUM smelter and the development of a new aluminium smelter in Indonesia.

The MoU was exchanged in the presence of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, and His Excellency Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia, and signed by Abdulla Kalban, Managing Director of EGA, and Orias Petrus Moedak, President Director of INALUM.

Under the MoU, the two companies will evaluate the potential to form a joint venture to develop a greenfield aluminium smelter in Indonesia. Specific contributions to the joint venture could include services related to technology, the supply of raw materials, and the marketing of metal.

EGA and INALUM are already cooperating on the potential brownfield upgrade using EGA technological know-how of INALUM’s existing aluminium smelter in North Sumatra, under an MoU signed in 2018.

This cooperation has included the short-term secondment of INALUM engineers to EGA in the UAE for training in reduction cell modelling and design.

Abdulla Kalban, Managing Director of EGA, said: “We are pleased to expand our cooperation with INALUM and look forward to exploring further how we can together make these important projects for Indonesia a reality. EGA’s technology is proven both in the UAE and internationally, and we believe that we can make a big contribution to the success of INALUM’s expansion plans, and potentially even in future a vertically-integrated alumina refinery, to the benefit of both our countries.”

Orias Petrus Moedak, President Director of INALUM said: “I am pleased that we have developed a strong and cooperative relationship with EGA which has now led to the signing of this MoU. At INALUM, we are looking forward to deepening our work with EGA and to potentially deploying EGA’s technology in Indonesia.”

EGA has developed aluminium smelting technology in the UAE for more than 25 years and has used its own technology in every expansion since the 1990s. EGA has also retrofitted all its older production lines. EGA’s latest aluminium smelting technology is amongst the most efficient in the world.

EGA recently completed a historic three-year project to transfer its UAE-developed DX+ Ultra technology to Aluminium Bahrain for its Potline 6 expansion project. The transfer was the first time a UAE industrial company had licensed its core process technology internationally, in a milestone for the development of a knowledge-based economy in the UAE.

INALUM is an Indonesian state-owned company specialised in aluminium smelting. The company manages the huge potential of electricity generated from the Asahan River. INALUM was first established in 1976 as joint venture company between the Indonesian government and Nippon Asahan Aluminium Co., Ltd., a consortium of Japanese companies, before it was fully acquired by the government in 2013.

INALUM had successfully transformed itself into a strategic holding company that oversees all state-owned mining companies and has greater integration of operations with diverse mine production while supporting the downstream mine industrialisation.

-Ends-

Contacts at EGA:
Simon Buerk
sbuerk@ega.ae
056 3111 536

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 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 2018, EGA produced 2.6 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 350 customers in over 60 countries. Over 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 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. ASI certification is the aluminium industry’s internationally recognised standard for environmental and social performance and governance.

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 5,450 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 will supply 40 per cent of EGA’s needs once fully ramped-up.

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

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

© Press Release 2020