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28 March 2024

GCC aluminium investments hit $30bn

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By Staff

Investments into the Gulf’s aluminium industry are currently estimated at around $30 billion and could reach as much as $55 billion by 2020 due to upcoming smelter expansions and new projects.

A fully-integrated aluminium industrial complex being built as a joint venture between Alcoa and Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Ma’aden) alone involves a capital investment of approximately $10.5 billion.

More foreign investors are looking to the Gulf for aluminium business due to its inexpensive gas stocks and strategic geographic location, with Europe already sourcing around 6 per cent of its aluminium demand from the region. 

The UAE and Saudi Arabia rank among the Gulf’s two biggest aluminium markets. Smelting operations managed by Dubai Aluminium Company (Dubal) and Emirates Aluminium in Abu Dhabi produce around 1.8 million tonnes of aluminium per year or 40 per cent of total annual Middle Eastern production.

More investment opportunities in the region will be revealed during Aluminium Dubai, the local version of Reed Exhibitions’ global series of aluminium events which also includes Aluminium India, Aluminium China and Aluminium Germany.

The second edition of Aluminium Dubai, the premier exhibition for aluminium products, technologies and investments in the Middle East, will again serve as an investment catalyst as it runs from May 9 to 11, 2011 at Sheikh Saeed Halls 2 and 3 of the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC).

Last year’s inaugural show welcomed 165 exhibitors from 23 countries and over 3,000 visitors from 61 countries, 73 per cent based in the region. Around 98 per cent of guests occupied key managerial positions in their respective companies. This year’s edition already has 81 confirmed companies so far, with more expected to follow from neighboring countries.