Abu Dhabi
Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), which is equally-owned by Mubadala Investment Company and the Investment Corporation of Dubai has signed a three-year alumina supply agreement with Vinacomin, a Vietnamese state-owned firm.
Under the agreement, Vinacomin will supply EGA with up to 300,000 tonnes of alumina per year. Alumina is the feedstock for aluminium smelters and EGA currently imports all the alumina it needs.
The deal is the first long-term agreement to supply Vietnamese alumina to the UAE and is expected to boost the bilateral trade between the two countries.
“This agreement with Vinacomin is in line with our strategy to diversify our sources of supply for alumina, to secure the resources that the UAE’s aluminium industry needs to grow at competitive prices,” Abdullah Kalban, EGA’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, said in a statement on Sunday.
EGA is building the UAE’s first alumina refinery at Al Taweelah in Abu Dhabi. Once construction is completed and full production is achieved, the Al Taweelah alumina refinery will produce 2 million tonnes of alumina per year, enough to meet 40 per cent of EGA’s requirements.
The company is also building a bauxite mine and associated export facilities in the Republic of Guinea in West Africa.
