Emirates Global Aluminium, the UAE’s largest industrial company outside the oil and gas sector, has signed an agreement with US company Alcoa for the supply of smelter-grade alumina.
The eight-year partnership, which starts in 2024, will allow EGA to procure 15.6 million metric tonnes of alumina from Western Australia, where Pennsylvania-based Alcoa has operations, the companies said on Tuesday.
The agreement will make Alcoa the largest third-party supplier of alumina to EGA.
Before this, EGA’s Al Taweelah alumina refinery in Abu Dhabi met 47 per cent of EGA’s total alumina needs in 2022, the company said.
“Most of our alumina needs into the next decade are now secured by our own production and a long-term supplier in Alcoa that is aligned with our sustainability goals,” said EGA chief executive Abdulnasser bin Kalban.
“This agreement will further strengthen EGA’s platform for future growth.”
Alumina, also known as aluminium oxide, is used as the starting material in the aluminium smelting process.
Derived from bauxite, it also serves as the raw material used in a wide range of ceramic products, as well as an active agent in chemical processing.
The partnership includes options for EGA to choose Alcoa’s low-carbon EcoSource alumina, the industry’s only low-carbon alumina brand.
EcoSource is produced with 600kg of carbon dioxide equivalent per tonne of alumina, which is half of the industry’s average of 1.2 tonnes, the companies said.
This is in line with EGA’s commitment to sustainability, aligned with the development of its own technology to decarbonise operations and reduce emissions.
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