EGA and Ma’aden expand collaboration on green technology for aluminium smelting

Emirates Global Aluminium, the UAE’s biggest industrial company outside the oil and gas sector, and Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) will extend a pact to collaborate on greener aluminium smelting technology as they seek more sustainable production.

The companies will explore co-operation on developing new aluminium smelting technologies with lower greenhouse gas emissions, they said in a joint statement on Thursday.

The agreement extends an initial pact signed in 2018.

EGA and Ma’aden also plan to collaborate on managing by-products from processes in the aluminium value chain and aluminium recycling.

The new agreement with allow the two companies to potentially co-operate in technology and other development to support sustainability, said Abdulnasser bin Kalban, chief executive of EGA. "The successful tackling of big challenges can only be accelerated by companies working together."

EGA, one of the world's largest aluminium producers, has smelters in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The company is developing its own technology to decarbonise operations and reduce emissions. Its aluminium is shipped to more than 50 countries.

EGA generates about Dh20 billion ($5.44bn) in economic activity yearly and supports more than 60,000 jobs in the UAE. In February, the company revealed plans to build an aluminium recycling plant with a capacity of 150,000 tonnes per year for greener operations.

Ma’aden operates one of the largest aluminium complexes in the world in Ras Al Khair on Saudi Arabia’s east coast. Ma'aden’s mine-to-market aluminium business comprises Al Ba’itha mine and a refinery, smelter, rolling and export facilities in Ras Al Khair. It provides billets, ingots, slabs and flat-rolled aluminium products to customers globally, including car makers and consumer brands.

"Aluminium is one of the world’s most crucial metals for many global industries going into a future that is focused on environment and sustainability," said Riyadh Al Nassar, senior vice president of Ma’aden’s Aluminium business.

"This partnership aims to increase the co-operation between Ma’aden and EGA to work together, including towards more sustainable aluminium production.”