Dubai The annual value and volume of strategic raw materials imported by Dubai Aluminium Company Limited (Dubal) through Jebel Ali Port reached record levels in 2009, boosted largely by the procurement of materials for Emirates Aluminium Company Limited PJSC (Emal), the high-tech green-field aluminium smelter development in Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi, in which Dubal holds a 50 per cent share and where Phase I is currently in ramp-up stage.
Masoud Talib Al Ali, Vice-President of Supply, explains that under the terms of a Supply Service Agreement between the two companies, Dubal is currently responsible for sourcing, procuring and managing the logistics relating to the strategic raw materials required by Emal, all of which are imported.
"Emal Phase I has been under construction since 2007. The core smelter operation comprises 756 electrolytic reduction cells in two potlines, the construction of which demanded a large volume of materials for cell lining [cathode bars] and anode purposes, specifically calcined petroleum coke and liquid pitch. Then, energising of the first cells at Emal and the production of the first metal took place in December 2009, heralding the start of substantial import volumes of alumina.
"As governed by the agreement, we expect to import 650,000 metric tonnes of calcined petroleum coke, 150,000 metric tonnes of liquid pitch and 3.5 million metric tonnes of alumina every year on behalf of both Dubal and Emal, for the three-year period from 2010 to 2012."
These volumes are over and above the $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) in strategic raw materials imported each year by Dubal through Jebel Ali Port for use in the company's present 1,573-cell, eight potline smelter in Jebel Ali, which has an annual hot metal production capacity of 980,000 metric tonnes.
"Our Jebel Ali complex is home to one of the largest single-site aluminium smelters in the world and we procure a wide range of strategic raw materials from various sources around the globe so as to ensure uninterrupted supply for our operations," Al Ali said.
"Some 40 to 50 per cent of our total strategic raw material imports each year comprise alumina, the balance comprising calcined petroleum coke, liquid pitch, baked anodes, aluminium fluoride, potlining materials, process materials and refractory items," he said.
Al Ali contends that the combined imports of Dubal and Emal represent the highest volume of raw materials imported through a single site smelter.
