Sustainable operations are key to the future: Alba CEO

Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba), in line with its commitment to improve operational efficiency and productivity for value-creation and sustainable operations, kick-started a series of awareness sessions titled ‘Titan – Phase III: The Phase of Urgency & Extreme Ownership’ Campaign on Monday, 08 October 2018.

Running for one month, the awareness sessions are being held for employees of all levels across the plant by members of Alba’s Operational Excellence Department and feature Q&A sessions and open discussions on various subjects in order to streamline Alba’s cost structure.

Speaking on this occasion, Alba’s Chief Executive Officer Tim Murray said:

“The aluminium industry today continues to face many headwinds, in particular the impact of higher Alumina prices coupled with fluctuating LME prices. Through Project Titan - Phase III, we seek to adopt extreme measures to improve our operational efficiency all the while being prepared to seize the right opportunities in the future.”

Alba had launched the Phase III of its company-wide, cost reduction programme Project Titan with the aim to reduce cash-cost by US$ 60 per metric tonne of aluminium and step-up its production capacity to 1,000,000 metric tonnes per annum by end of 2018.

-Ends- 

About Alba

Aluminium Bahrain B.S.C. (Alba) - one of the largest and modern aluminium smelters in the world - is renowned for its premium grade aluminium products, technological strength and innovative policies, strict environmental guidelines and high track record for safety. Established in 1971 as a 120,000 tonnes per annum smelter, Alba today produces more than 981,000 metric tonnes per annum of the highest grade aluminium, with products including standard and T-ingots, extrusion billets, rolling slab, properzi ingots, and molten aluminium.

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%). 

About Line 6 Expansion Project 

Alba’s Line 6 Expansion Project is one of the largest brownfield developments in the region. Expected to begin production by January 1st 2019, this Project will boost the smelter’s per-annum production by 540,000 metric tonnes, bringing its total production capacity to 1.5 million metric tonnes per year.

With a CAPEX of approximately US$ 3 billion, the Line 6 Expansion Project involves the construction of a sixth pot line utilising EGA’s proprietary DX+ Ultra Technology, a 1,792 MW Power Station (Power Station 5) 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 Financing of c. US$ 700 million for Euler Hermes and SERV-covered facilities in July 2017 and the first part of 2nd ECA-tranche of EUR 204.5 million for Bpifrance Assurance Export (“BpiAE”) and Euler Hermes-covered facilities in April 2018. The Company is looking to secure the final part of 2nd ECA-tranche by Q3 2018.

The Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study for the Project was completed in the first quarter of 2017. The construction site-works have started in the second quarter of 2017 while the mass earthworks was completed by the end of the third quarter of 2017 as per schedule. Alba has also laid the First Concrete in Potline 6 Foundation in May 2017 wherein the concrete foundations will reach 85,000 m3 upon completion by December 2018. As of September 30, 2018, Line 6 Smelter’s Overall Progress advanced by 70% (Engineering progressed by more than 93% while Contracts and Procurement advanced by 99%); Power Station 5 & Power Distribution System Overall Progress exceeded 72% and 94% respectively.

The Line 6 Expansion Project will make Alba the world’s largest single-site aluminium smelter and be a significant economic boost for the Kingdom of Bahrain due to the many co-investment opportunities through local and foreign aluminium investments.

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 2018