DUBAL’s participation at Aluminium Middle East 2013 lent strength to industry platform

The participation of Dubai Aluminium, DUBAL, in Aluminium Middle East 2013, held in Dubai from 23 to 25 April 2013, achieved the state-owned corporation’s objectives. So says Walid Al Attar, Executive Vice President: Marketing & Sales, who explains that the exhibition not only provided a forum for showcasing DUBAL’s strength as the largest primary aluminium producer in the Middle East; and the largest single-site smelter in the world using pre-bake anode technology, but also for promoting the rapidly-growing aluminium industry in the region to exhibitors and visitors from the rest of the world. 

Attesting to DUBAL’s position as the industrial flagship of the UAE, the corporation’s stand at Aluminium Middle East 2013 was the first to be visited by His Excellence Saeed Al Tayer, Managing Director & CEO: Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and recently appointed Vice Chairman of DUBAL, who officiated at the opening ceremony. He was received on the stand by Mohammed Al Mutawa (General Manager Marketing & Sales: Europe & The Americas), who providing a brief introduction to DUBAL’s products, markets, benchmark performances in the aluminium industry and the corporation’s contributions to the Dubai economy in 2012. 

Over the course of the three-day event, representatives of DUBAL’s Marketing and Sales, Casting Operations, Smelter Operations and Supply departments met with existing customers and suppliers; as well as well potential business partners that expressed interest in dealing with DUBAL. Strong interest in DUBAL was also shown by the media, specifically in relation to the corporation’s successful growth and sustained progress over the 33 years since its inception in 1979. In 2012, DUBAL produced a record 1,025,266 tonnes of hot metal, leading to higher-than-ever production records of cast products (1,053,811 tonnes) and sales volumes (1,052,419 tonnes) in the same year. Moreover, as a joint venture partner with Mubadala Development Corporation in Emirates Aluminium (“EMAL”) – the UAE’s second smelter development, where EMAL Phase I has operated at full capacity since the end of 2010 – the total volume of metal actually marketed by DUBAL in 2012 exceeded 1,839,000 tonnes. 

DUBAL’s advanced, new generation DX+ Reduction Cell Technology was also promoted at Aluminium Middle East 2013. Developed in-house, DX+ Technology is well suited to the arid tropic climate of the region. The technology has been extensively tested in a five-cell pilot line at DUBAL’s Jebel Ali site since 2010; and its performance capabilities have been independently verified by industry experts. Based on these results, DX+ Technology has been licensed to EMAL Phase II (444 cells, currently under construction). It has also been selected for Aluminium Bahrain’s Line 6 Bankable Feasibility Study. 

“As a proudly UAE company and the aluminium industry leader in the region, DUBAL had a key role to play at Aluminium Middle East 2013,” says Al Attar. “By re-iterating our leading position, promoting our strong brand and leveraging our well-established reputation, DUBAL contributed substantially to the show’s success.”