ABU DHABI, 19 February 2006 — Dubai Aluminum Co. (Dubal) and Abu Dhabi’s investment vehicle Mubadala agreed yesterday to invest $6 billion (5 billion euros) in building the world’s largest aluminum smelter.
“This is an important strategic and historical alliance that will serve the UAE national economy and will capitalize on the excellent infrastructure already existing in the country,” Dubal Vice Chairman Ahmed Al-Humaid Al-Tayer said in a statement.
The two entities will jointly build, own and operate the 1.2 million-ton per year capacity smelter at Khalifa port in Abu Dhabi’s Taweelah industrial zone, the statement said.
The project, which is expected to be completed in 2010, will create 4,000 jobs that will mostly be filled by UAE nationals. “This is the first in a number of business synergies between Mubadala and Dubal, which will make the UAE a first-tier player and a global force in the aluminum industry,” said Khaldoon Al-Mubarak, the chief executive officer of Mubadala after the signing ceremony.
The two companies will pursue “investment opportunities along the entire aluminum supply chain” in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Dubal, which is owned by the Dubai government, is the Middle East’s largest aluminum producer with a capacity of 761,000 tons a year. In August it acquired a 25 percent stake in Canada’s Global Alumina Corp for $200 million (166 million euros).
Mubadala owns a majority stake in Dolphin Energy, which is building a regional network to export gas via a submerged pipeline from Qatar to Abu Dhabi, and then on to Dubai, Oman and eventually Pakistan.