Dubai Aluminium Company DUBAL, which houses one of the largest smelters in the world, crossed another milestone with its official launch of Phase-1 of Potline-7 after the US$180-million expansion program. The Potline was fully commissioned recently with all the 120 pots going on stream well ahead of schedule.
An official gala ceremony was organized to mark this occasion at the sprawling DUBAL complex, which was attended by Mr. Ahmed Humaid Al Tayer, Vice-Chairman of the board of directors of DUBAL, Mr. Abdullah J. M. Kalban, CEO, DUBAL, dignitaries, members of the board, senior management team and other employees.
In his opening address at the ceremony, Mr. Al Tayer said: “DUBAL has grown from strength to strength in line with the directives of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, the UAE Minister for Finance and Industry and Chairman of DUBAL, which identify well-planned expansion projects as per the 10-year future growth strategy.”
“DUBAL is cruising along the growth path both regionally and internationally, offering its expertise to countries in the region and looking for investment opportunities in fresh upstream projects,” Mr. Al Tayer added.
“DUBAL will continue to maintain its globally acclaimed international status as one of the leading business success stories in the region, thereby elevating the reputation of Dubai, the UAE and the region as a whole,” Mr. Al Tayer pointed out in his speech on the occasion.
Mr. Al Tayer congratulated the board of directors, the senior core management team responsible for Potline-7 expansion project and asked all the employees to work towards achieving the targets specified in the 10-year future growth program.
The official ceremony began with a reading from the Holy Quran followed by the speech by Mr. Ahmed Al Tayer and Mr. Abdullah Kalban. A video presentation highlighting the various stages of Potline-7’s expansion progress was shown after the speech at the program.
DUBAL, a 100% Dubai government-owned entity is the industrial flagship of the emirate. The company produces and exports high quality, value added primary aluminium products to more than 40 countries world-wide. DUBAL also contributes more than 7% to Dubai’s GDP.
Complimenting the core management team and all the employees on this momentous occasion, Mr. Abdullah J. M. Kalban, CEO, DUBAL said: “Potline-7 expansion project was completed in a record time of 14 months and resulted in saving more than US$25 million from the budgeted cost. The project was originally budgeted to cost US$205 million. However, with the expertise of our in-house core management professionals, we were able to complete the project at a cost of US$180 million.”
“SNC Lavalin of Canada was awarded an Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management contract to manage the project, with qualified support from the six-member senior DUBAL Project Management Team,” Mr. Kalban added.
The project which began in June 2004 was completed ahead of schedule in May 2005. The first metal was tapped on 23rd May, 2005. Potline-7 was fully commissioned in June 2005 after the expansion which helped DUBAL to raise its production capacity by 74,000 tonnes to a total of 761,000 tonnes per annum. The project was originally scheduled for completion only during the fourth quarter of 2005.
“The key feature that helped in DUBAL achieving this milestone is the technology. DUBAL has developed and tested its own advanced reduction technology to achieve efficient smelting performance,” pointed out Mr. Kalban reiterating once again that the commitment and devotion shown of the employees brought this project to a successful completion.
"The benefit of this expansion will continue to keep DUBAL one of the lowest and the most cost-effective aluminium producers in the world. This is why we can proudly declare that we continue to enjoy the benefits of economies of scale. The Gulf region will be a key player in the future towards supplying primary aluminium to the world”. Added Mr. Kalban.
“This is a great accomplishment for DUBAL and our employees. We are sure together we will continue to excel in our performance in the future by contributing more to the growth of manufacturing sector and benefiting Dubai and the UAE,” Mr. Kalban remarked.
