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ALUMINIUM MI DDL E EAST
production ramp up to the 160,000 tpy design
capacity. The project is designed to deliver
high quality and short lead time products to
its customers. OARC is owned by Takamul
Investment Co. SOAC, and is the largest aluminium
project to date. Takamul is in turn
90% owned by Oman Oil Co. The project fits
with its strategy of adding value to existing local
raw material, and developing economically
attractive downstream investments in Oman
industries. These in turn contribute to creating
sustainable employment, expanding of the
local industrial network, and increasing and
Automated cranes for OARC
SCX Special Projects are automating two of
the plant’s 25-tonne cranes that will take
hot coils into and out of storage, as well as
between a variety of other process lines. Easily
switched from manual to automatic, SCX’s
complex Crane Management System (CMS)
will record information on type, date / time
of any movement and on what onward processes
are required for each and every roll.
The CMS will then use this information to organise
the coil’s predetermined process paths
into the most efficient network possible, getting
the coils to their destination in the shortest
time, sharing the workload equally between
the two cranes, and ensuring they do
not obstruct each other.
diversifying revenues for the local economy.
Liquid aluminium brought in from the
adjacent smelter is processed into coils, which
are then distributed around the plant by 12
street cranes ranging from 7.5 to 80 tonnes
SWL (Safe Working Load). The hoists, carriages
and control panels have already been
shipped, the bridge steelwork has been
sourced locally, and the final piece of puzzle,
SCX Special Project’s complex automation
system, is about to be sent out to the Middle
East for installation.
Millions of dollars were spent in education
programmes for the Omani workforce. The
start-up team will have been through eight
months of training prior to the commissioning
phase. Currently there are 105 full-time
employees, with 80% being Omani nationals.
There are also people from eight different
countries.
Retired in 2009, Buddy Stemple was elected
CEO of OARC in March 2011. As a Canadian
he has been living since then in Oman.
Saudi Arabia
In February 2012 joint-venture partners Alcoa
and Ma’aden (Saudi Arabian Mining Co.)
poured the first concrete for the alumina refinery
at their integrated aluminium complex
in Ras Al Khair in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern
Province. A month later Ma’aden Bauxite &
Alumina, the joint venture body owned by
Ma’aden (74.9%) and Alcoa (25.1%), awarded
Hyundai Engineering & Construction a
contract to build the alumina refinery for its
new aluminium plant. The EPC contract, which
includes pre-commissioning, commissioning
and start-up assistance as well as training, is
worth more than 5.6bn riyals (USD1.5bn).
Since 2009, Ma’aden and Alcoa have
worked on the construction of a multi-billiondollar
aluminium-making complex in Ras Al
Khair. The complex is designed to produce
1.8m tpy of alumina, mainly for domestic consumption.
The investment is part of a wider
industrialisation of the Arab world’s richest
country, so as to reduce its reliance on imported
materials for construction and energy
projects.
The Ma’aden contract to Hyundai reduces
a joint venture by WorleyParsons and Fluor
International, which had been in line for the
EPC contract, to a project management role.
The refinery is scheduled for completion by
the end of 2014.
Alcoa and Ma’aden have recorded a safety
milestone during construction of their aluminium
smelter: 25m hours worked without
a lost work day injury. The lost work day accomplishment
was achieved by 39 construction
companies employing a diverse multinational
workforce that speaks more than 15
languages and represents upwards of 25 countries
and cultures. The number of workers including
contractors grew from less than 200
to 12,400 during this period.
Ma’aden has secured 7bn riyals (USD1.86-
Alupco – leading manufacturer of extrusions in Saudi Arabia
With a total production capacity of more than
60,000 tonnes a year, Aluminium Products Company
Ltd (Alupco) is the leading manufacturer
of extrusions of high standard in Saudi Arabia.
Established in 1975, the company is also wellknown
for a variety of surface treatments like
electrostatic powder coating, anodising, polishing
and wood finish coating.
The corporate headquarters is in Dammam
where the firm owns and operates four presses
with extrusion loads between 1,650 and 3,500
tonnes. At its Jeddah plant Alupco operates four
presses in the range of 2,135 to 2,500 tonnes.
Further facilities include two anodising lines
(with a capacity of 12,000 t) and five powder
coating lines (33,000 t), a die manufacturing
plant capable of producing 4,000 dies a year and
a casthouse. The company employs over 800
people of different nationalities.
In the Middle East Alupco is the first aluminium
extrusion company which was awarded
with the prestigious ISO 9001 certificate in 1995
and ISO 2000 certificate in 2004. To maintain
the high quality of its products, European (EN),
German (DIN), British (BS), American (ASTM) and
the Saudi (SASO) standards are strictly followed
in its operations.
Alupco profiles are used in building and
construction, and in other industries for a wide
range of products: windows, doors and curtain
walls as well as profiles in various shapes and
alloys for the electrical and furniture fabrication
industries, to name just a few target markets
– with special finish for decorative purposes, if
demanded.
Alupco invests in new extrusion line
Only recently Alupco has placed a contract with
the co-operation partners Omav and SMS Meer
for a complete extrusion line. This is the exact
blue print of a line that the two equipment
suppliers already delivered in 2011: a 25/27 MN
extrusion press by SMS Meer and the complete
handling system by Omav which in this case is
the contractor and responsible for project management
and assembly.
The extrusion press will be built according
to the construction plans of SMS Meer, and executed
at the Omav workshop in Rodengo
Saiano, Italy. This corresponds to the projectrelated
co-operation agreement from autumn
last year – an agreement which refers to full-line
solutions for extrusion presses up to 32/35 MN,
with one overall contract for the complete line
and with a special focus on ‘cost-driven markets’
(For details of the co-operation see ALUMINIUM
12/2012, page 7).
Delivery of the extrusion line is scheduled in
the course of 2013.
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