Adnoc signs $500m deal with EGA to supply raw material for aluminium production

Adnoc Refining will supply calcined petroleum coke from the Ruwais refinery over the next five years

EGA said it expects to produce around 3.75 million metric tonnes of aluminium over the five-year term of the agreement. Photo: EGA

Adnoc has signed a $500 million deal with Emirates Global Aluminium to supply a raw material for aluminium production as part of efforts to localise the suppy chain in the UAE.

As part of the five-year agreement, Adnoc Refining will supply up to 1.5 million tonnes of calcined petroleum coke (petcoke) to EGA, the Abu Dhabi energy company said in a statement on Tuesday, on the sidelines of the Make it in the Emirates event.

Adnoc Refining will supply at least 30 per cent of EGA’s calcined petcoke requirements from the Ruwais refinery, the company said. It will enable EGA to produce around 3.75 million tonnes of aluminium over the five-year term of the agreement.

“By supplying this critical raw material for aluminium production from our Ruwais refinery, we are strengthening domestic supply chains, reducing reliance on imports and enabling growth in one of the nation’s most vital industrial sectors,” said Khaled Salmeen, Adnoc Downstream's chief executive.

The UAE's In-Country Value (ICV) programme, a central plank of the country's Operation 300bn industrial strategy, redirects as much spending as possible towards UAE-made goods and services to boost the growth of domestic industries.

Local spending under the ICV programme has reached Dh347 billion ($94.5 billion), Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, said on Monday, adding that the initiative has created more than 22,000 jobs for Emiratis.

Meanwhile, Adnoc awarded contracts worth Dh65.7 billion in the first half of the year, benefiting nearly 400 local suppliers, contractors and service providers, state news agency Wam reported on Sunday.

The contracts are in critical sectors such as drilling, logistics, operational support services, and engineering, procurement and construction.

Over the next five years, Adnoc plans to channel an additional Dh200 billion into the UAE economy through ICV, according to the Wam report.

The latest deal with EGA is expected to strengthen the UAE’s role as a global aluminium supplier, Adnoc said. The UAE is the biggest producer of aluminium after China, India, Russia and Canada, with Bahrain in sixth position, according to commodities research company CRU Group.

“This agreement with Adnoc enables us to secure a significant proportion of a key raw material locally, further increasing our economic impact in the UAE,” said EGA chief executive Abdulnasser bin Kalban.

EGA is the largest industrial company in the UAE outside of the energy sector, and its products comprise the country's largest made-in-the-UAE non-oil export.

Its direct, indirect and induced economic contributions to the local economy reached $6.4 billion last year, accounting for 1.3 per cent of the UAE’s gross domestic product and supporting more than 52,000 jobs, the company said.