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28 March 2024

Dubai Aluminium raises Jebel Ali capacity

Published
By Staff Writer

(BLOOMBERG)   

 

State-owned Dubai Aluminium Company (Dubal) has consolidated its status as the seventh largest aluminium smelter in the world by raising the production capacity of its Jebel Ali plant to 950,000 metric tonnes per annum (mtpa).

 

This follows the commissioning of the second phase of the company’s latest expansion project, which entailed a 32-pot, 22,000 mtpa extension of Potline 5, and a 40-pot, 40,000 mtpa extension of Potline 6.

 

The combined Potline 56b expansion project, completed at a cost of $236 million (Dh866m), has brought the number of electrolytic aluminium reduction cells in the plant infrastructure to 1,557 pots, arranged in eight potlines.
“Construction of the two-phased expansion project began in June 2006. A remarkable safety record of more than seven million man-hours worked without any lost time injuries was achieved over the 20-month period. This is no mean feat, considering that more than 3,000 workers were on site at the peak of the construction phase,” said a statement.

 

The increased capacity of the plant will contribute substantially to the turnover of Dubal. Already, the economy has benefited from the $135.7m spend on local suppliers during the course of the project, which equates to 58 per cent of the total budget against a targeted spend of 40 per cent.

 

The extension of Potline 6b represents a particular milestone in Dubal’s ongoing quest to develop advanced technologies, which can compete with similar technologies on the world market in terms of productivity, capacity and efficiency, while maintaining the highest standards of environmental conservation.

 

The 40 new cells in Potline 6b incorporate Dubal’s DX technology, which operates at high amperage of more than 340,000 amperes to yield greater productivity of approximately 2.615 tonnes per cell per day (60.4 per cent higher than the 1.630 tonnes per cell per day achieved using conventional reduction cell technologies).