“The engineering study is almost complete,” said Saeed Fadhal Al Mazrooei, chief executive officer of UAE Operations at Emirates Global Aluminium, or EGA, while speaking to reporters, on the sidelines of the inauguration of Gulf Fluor, a new plant which produces aluminium fluoride and hydrofluoric acid that are used in the making of aluminium.

The chief executive said, “We are proceeding with detailed engineering study.”

On the estimated cost involved in the mega project, Al Mazrooei said it is early to give a cost of the project since the engineering study is not finalized.

Alumina, which is extracted from bauxite, is the primary ingredient needed for the production of aluminium.

The refinery, which will be built in two phases, will have four million metric per annum production capacity. It will be built adjacent to Emal smelter in the Khalifa Industrial Zone, due to which “we expect a very low capex,” he said.

In 2013, Emal owned by Mubadala and Dubal owned by Investment Corporation of Dubai announced merger to become EGA, which is among the leading primary aluminium producers in the world. The merger proved successful as it reached 2.4 million tonne per annum capacity along with economies of scale, which are reflected from strong financial and operational performance in 2014.

The aluminium giant reported net income of Dh3.7 billion, 75 per cent year-on-year higher in the financial year 2014 as sales rose 30 per cent to Dh19.8 billion.

During the year, Emal completed its phase II expansion project in Al Taweelah to full production capacity, ahead of schedule.

The aluminum smelter sold over 250,000 tons in the UAE, supporting downstream manufacturing industries, and covering close to 100 per cent of local demand.

Emal and Dubal have made great strides in aluminium productions. Dubal production rose many times to 1 million metric tons per annum against 1,35,000 metric tons in 1979, when it was built.

Emirates Aluminium’s output has doubled to 1.4 million metric tonne in seven years in 2014.

This gives EGA a production capacity of over 2.4 million tons per year, putting it firmly in the ranks of the world’s top four aluminium producers.

Global primary aluminium demand is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 7.6 per cent from 2014 to 2017 with statistics indicating that Asia and the Americas will generate the greatest share of aluminium demand in the next few years.

In 2014, EGA exported 40 per cent of its production to Asia, while 12 per cent went to the Americas, meaning that 56 per cent of EGA’s total production was shipped to the two regions forecast to create the greatest demand in the coming few years.

EGA owns Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC), a strategic bauxite mining and alumina refining development project in the Republic of Guinea. The company plans to continue expanding along the aluminium value chain, from smelting to alumina refining and bauxite mining; and will also support the continued growth of the aluminium cluster in the UAE.