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Volume V / Issue 4 . December 2009
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4 | 12-2009 APT ALUMINIUM NEWS
Dubal celebrates 30 years of excellence
When Dubai Aluminium
Co. Ltd (Dubal) tapped its
first metal on 12 November
1979, this date marked
the start of its core smelter
operations and the company’s
official inception.
Established to support the
diversification of the UAE
economy by adding value to
the country’s oil-rich mineral
resources, the entirely
state-owned enterprise
is widely regarded as the
industrial flagship of the
UAE and is one of the largest
non-oil contributors to
Dubai’s economy.
Abdulla J. M. Kalban
(President & CEO) reports
that the company’s roots
stem back to 22 May
1975, when the late H. H.
Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al
Maktoum (then Ruler of
Dubai) signed a decree establishing
Dubal on a 480-hectare
site 35 kilometres southwest
of Dubai. Almost five
months later, on 15 October
1975, he laid Dubal’s foundation
stone; and construction
of the smelter complex began
in May 1976.
“Commercial production
of aluminium at Dubal
began in January 1980, the
entire planned production
volume of 135,000 tonnes per
annum having been pre-sold
in North America. The plant
Aerial view of Dubal at commissioning in 1979 Aerial view of Dubal in 2009
comprised 360 reduction cells
in three potlines, a 504 MW
power station and ancillary
carbon, casthouse, port and
other facilities,” Mr Kalban
says.
Through a series of successive
expansion projects in
the intervening years, Dubal
has evolved into the world’s
largest modern aluminium
smelter with a captive power
station. Currently, its major
facilities comprise a 960,000
tpy primary aluminium
smelter, a 2,350 megawatt
power station, a large carbon
plant, three casthouses,
a water desalination plant,
laboratories, port and storage
facilities.
There are now 1,565 fully
operational cells in Dubal’s
eight potlines. Exceptionally
high purity of metal is
maintained, with the standard
purity cells delivering
99.913% and the high purity
cells achieving up to 99.96%
metal purity levels. The company
can produce more than
one million tonnes of finished
aluminium products a year, as
foundry alloy for automotive
applications as well as extrusion
billet for construction,
industrial and transportation
purposes and high purity aluminium
for the electronics
and aerospace industries.
Dubal’s entire production
is pre-sold to more than 300
customers in about 45 countries
predominantly in the
Far East, Europe, the Asean
region, the Middle East and
Mediterranean region, and
North America. The company
holds ISO 9001, ISO/TS
16949, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/
IEC 20000, ISO 14001 and
OHSAS 18001 certification
and has twice won the Dubai
Quality Award in the production
and manufacturing sector
(1996 and 2000).
“Ranked in 2008 as the
largest single-site smelter in
the western world (third overall)
and seventh-largest pro-
Abdulla J M Kalba,
President and CEO
of Dubal
ducer of primary aluminium
in the world as a whole, Dubal
has set its sights on becoming
the world’s fifth-largest producer
of primary aluminium
by 2015,” states Kalban. “With
this in mind, we entered into
a joint protocol in February
2006 with Mubadala
Development Company, a
wholly-owned investment
vehicle of the government of
the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
The resulting joint venture
aims to become one of the
largest primary producers of
aluminium in the world by
leveraging the synergy of our
aluminium expertise and Abu
Dhabi’s energy and financial
resources.”
Good progress has already
been made:
■ The first 700,000 tpy phase
in the two-phase greenfield
smelter development at Al
Taweelah in Abu Dhabi,
which will be the largest
single site smelter in the
world on completion, is on
track for commissioning in
April 2010.
■ partnership has been
entered into with Algerian
state-owned oil and
gas company Sonatrach
for a proposed greenfield
smelter development in the
Beni-Saf industrial zone.
■ A memorandum of understanding
has been signed
with Saudi Arabian General
Investment Authority and
Emaar, The Economic City,
regarding the development
of a greenfield aluminium
smelter complex in King
Abdullah Economic City,
Saudi Arabia.
Active investments are
also being made to secure
Dubal’s requirements of alumina
and other critical raw
materials. With regards to
alumina feedstock in particular,
the company has to
date engaged in four strategic
upstream bauxite and alumina
projects in Brazil, Cameroon,
Republic of Guinea
and India.
“By diligently partnering
with the Dubai government
over the years, Dubal has also
played a key role in the socioeconomic
development of
the local community,” Kalban
says. “Over and above our
substantial direct and indirect
contributions to the economy,
Dubal actively support community-based
initiatives that
fulfil the UAE’s broader development
goals. For example,
we sponsor world-class
sporting and industry events
that showcase Dubai’s superb
tourism and business infrastructure
to international
audiences while demonstrat-
Rusal and Norinco sign a long-term
UC Rusal, the world’s largest
producer of aluminium
and alumina, and China
North Industries Corp.
(Norinco), one of China’s
largest diversified corporations,
have signed a contract
for aluminium delivery.
Under the contract, Rusal
will supply 1.680 million
tonnes of aluminium to the
Chinese company between
2010 and 2016. The metal
will be shipped as standard
ingots from Rusal’s Siberian
smelters.
Rusal has a well diversified
sales platform covering the
United States and Japan and
also has a strategic focus on
high-growth markets, South
East Asia and China in particular.
Rusal’s sales to China are
expected to represent 5 percent
of its revenue in 2009,
and the company aims to
increase this to 10 percent of
revenue by 2015.
Commenting on the contract,
Artem Volynets, Rusal’s
Director for Corporate Strategy,
said: “This agreement
represents a significant step
towards achieving our stra-
ing the city’s innovative and
cosmopolitan flair. Also, we
prefer to support projects that
enhance education so as to
facilitate the effective nationalisation
of our business.”
In 1980 there were very
few UAE nationals among
Dubal’s workforce of 1,386
employees. Today, employment
is provided to more
than 4,100 people, of whom
24 percent are UAE nationals
– a level far in excess of the
Dubai industry average of
four percent nationalisation.
And around 70 percent of
positions at senior management
level are held by UAE
nationals.
The Dubal management
is proud of its multicultural
workforce which is regarded
as the company’s most valuable
asset. “From the outset,
we have hand-picked the best
talent available, then consciously
facilitated personal
and professional development
through training while nurturing
an environment conducive
to retention,” Kalban
explains. “It’s a strategy that
has borne fruit: 24 percent of
our employees have served at
Dubal for ten to twenty years
and ten percent boast service
tenure of more than twenty
years.”
“The combination of
a strong, internationally
renowned brand; a forwardfocused
growth strategy; a
heritage of producing premium
quality, highest purity
aluminium products; reliable
adherence to delivery promises;
ongoing investments in
people; and a commitment
to excellence-based partnerships
have enabled Dubal’s
sustainable growth and longevity
to date. Building on these
essentials, the course of our
company’s continued journey
is certain to be paved with
even greater successes,” concludes
Kalban.
www.dubal.ae
contract for aluminium delivery tegic objective of increasing
Rusal / Norinco signing ceremony
all Photos: Dubal
Photo: Rusal
exposure to the Chinese market.
In addition, it allows our
partner, Norinco, to benefit
from UC Rusal’s key competitive
advantages: a sustainable
low-cost position and favourable
location. We consider
China to be a long-term driver
for aluminium demand due to
its rapid pace of urbanisation
and industrialisation and are
pleased to continue expanding
our mutually beneficial
cooperation with Chinese
clients.”
Norinco is an enterprise
group that mainly deals with
defence and optronic products,
heavy equipment manufacturing,
automobiles and
logistics services.
www.rusal.ru