Aluminium Dubai 2009, held at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre from 29 to 31 March, proved a meaningful platform for Dubai Aluminium Company Limited (“DUBAL”), the Platinum sponsor of the exhibition. So says Abdulla Bin Kalban (President and CEO DUBAL), who explains that DUBAL achieved its objectives for participating, namely: promoting the company, highlighting the emerging aluminium industry hub in the Middle East with particular emphasis on DUBAL’s relationship with Emirates Aluminium (“EMAL”), and showcasing the city of Dubai.
“Having begun operating in 1979, DUBAL celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, making us one of the longest-standing and best-established businesses in the UAE,” says Bin Kalban. “Over the past three decades, we have expanded strategically to become the world’s largest modern smelter with a captive power station. Today, our company is widely renowned as Dubai’s industrial flagship: not only is DUBAL one of the largest non-oil contributors to the economy of the Emirate, but it is also an industry leader in the Middle East – both in the aluminium sector and across many other facets of business.”
He points out that DUBAL’s growth over the years has played a key role in developing the regional aluminium industry into a significant hub. “DUBAL has evolved into a global player with a smelter of capacity of 960,000 tonnes primary aluminium per year. This has helped place the Middle East on the global aluminium map. We have also networked closely with regional aluminium players on industry-related matters – including lobbying against the 6 per cent EU tariff; establishing the Arab Aluminium forum which celebrated its 25th anniversary year in 2008; and forming the Gulf Aluminium Council, which was formally announced earlier this year,” he says. These collective initiatives have strengthened the region’s reputation and increased the market’s confidence in the Middle East’s aluminium industry players.”
The overwhelming response received by Aluminium Dubai 2009, in terms of the number and calibre of exhibitors as well as the number of visitors to the exhibition, confirms the growing interest in and importance of the region in the global aluminium sector. According to
Bin Kalban, the DUBAL stand attracted substantial interest from existing and potential customers and suppliers, providing ample opportunity to share information and build relationships. “We were also able to highlight the synergies between ourselves and EMAL – the green-field smelter development at Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi in which DUBAL is a joint venture partner and is providing both leading edge smelting technology and technical expertise,” he adds. “Aluminium Dubai 2009 is the first exhibition within the UAE at which EMAL has appeared. The scope of the EMAL project – which is destined to have a capacity of 1.4 million tonnes once fully built – generated tremendous interest among visitors. This allowed us to begin marketing EMAL’s metal more widely: an important advantage given that DUBAL will be responsible for marketing EMAL’s entire metal production from the moment the plant is commissioned. Moreover, as the first 700,000 tpa phase is scheduled to come on stream by late-2009 or early-2010, the timing of the exhibition was perfect!”
He adds that the large delegate base drawn from outside the region means that Dubai received a tourism boost. “World-class events attract people with influence from across the globe,” Bin Kalban explains. “Visiting Dubai gives them first-hand experience of our superb hospitality facilities and business infrastructure, as well as the innovative and cosmopolitan culture that prevails. These are attributes that will engender a positive attitude towards Dubai, to the benefit of everyone who lives here.”
About Dubai Aluminium Company (“DUBAL”)
DUBAL is the world’s largest modern aluminium smelter with a captive power station. It is also one of the largest non-oil contributors to the economy of Dubai. Built on a 480-hectare site in Jebel Ali, Dubai, UAE, DUBAL’s major facilities comprise an 960,000 mtpa primary aluminium smelter, a 2,600 megawatt power station, a large carbon plant, three casthouses, a 30-million-gallon-per-day water desalination plant, laboratories, port and storage facilities. Employment is provided to more than 4,100 people, of whom approximately 21 per cent are UAE Nationals.
The company has the capacity to produce more than one million metric tonnes of high quality finished aluminium products a year, in three main forms: foundry alloy for automotive applications, extrusion billet for construction purposes and high purity aluminium for the electronics industry.
DUBAL serves more than 290 customers in 48 countries predominantly in the Far East, Europe, the ASEAN region, the Middle East and Mediterranean region, and North America. The company holds ISO 9001, ISO/TS 16949, ISO/IEC 27001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certification; and has twice won the Dubai Quality Award in the Production and Manufacturing sector (1996 and 2000).
