Market Information

Gulf to control 13% of global aluminium output by 2020

At 5.4% of the world’s aluminium output, the GCC countries currently produce around 2.2 million tonnes of aluminium and news smelters and expansions of existing units will boost their combined output to four million tones in 2010. By 2020, new and expanding smelters will push production to a record nine million tones.

Market Profile

GCC Aluminium Market has a current total of 886 plants producing aluminium and associated products, accounting for about 7.2% of the total industrial units with an estimated capital of about $13.3 bn and a workforce of more than 63,000.
Mega Aluminium projects in the GCC enjoy considerably low costs in production as backed up by massive energy resources having 45% of the global recoverable crude deposits and cheap labour.
Rapidly increasing market share of the GCC region in the global aluminium industry is expected to turn the member states into future dominant aluminium producers and exporters in the world.
GCC countries are currently implementing economic programs (more than $130 billion worth of investments) to diversify their sources of income and the aluminium industry is one of the investment destinations

Some of the Mega Aluminium Projects in the GCC

A recently completed 350,000 tonne smelter in Oman
A 585,000 tonne plant in Qatar
A venture in Abu Dhabi that is targeted to expand from 700,000 tonnes to 1.4 tonnes upon completion with approximate cost of $5.7 billion
Combined capacity of 1.4 million tonnes a year by two Saudi Arabian smelters

Source: Emirates Industrial Bank (EIB) study cited in Emirates Business online magazine (August 2009)