Emirates Global Aluminium has said that the damage sustained by its Al Taweelah plant in Abu Dhabi from an Iranian drone attack will take up to a year to repair.
The facility, located at Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi, was hit last Saturday and had sustained "significant damage". Aluminium Bahrain was also attacked on the same day.
The site, including the smelter and cast house, power plant, alumina refinery and recycling plant, was fully evacuated and the facilities entered emergency shutdown, the company said, adding that no life-threatening injuries were sustained by those hurt.
To resume operations at the smelter, EGA must repair infrastructure damage and progressively restore each of the reduction cells, it said.
"Early indications are that a complete restoration of primary aluminium production could take up to 12 months," EGA said in a statement on Friday.
"Al Taweelah alumina refinery and Al Taweelah recycling plant may be able to restart some production earlier, depending on the final assessment of site damage."
EGA is one of the UAE's biggest industrial companies and plays a key role in the country's vast manufacturing sector and the economy.
Its Al Taweelah smelter produced 1.6 million tonnes of cast metal in 2025. Its alumina refinery produced 2.4 million tonnes of alumina in 2025, and met 46 per cent of EGA’s total alumina needs.
The company, which has more than 400 customers in at least 50 countries, sold 2.84 million tonnes of cast metal last year. Its aluminium is primarily used in the construction, car, packaging, aerospace and electronics industries.
On Monday, aluminium prices surged by up to 6 per cent when markets opened, hovering near their highest level in four years following the attacks.
Prices are expected to continue to climb in the short term amid supply disruptions from the Middle East, analysts have said.
There are a number of aluminium producers in the region, playing a critical role in supply of metal to the world. They include Maaden Aluminium in Saudi Arabia and Sohar Aluminium in Oman.
“Our Al Taweelah site is a foundation of the global economy, and a significant contributor to global supply, making this incident damaging to industries and prosperity worldwide," said Abdulnasser bin Kalban, chief executive of EGA.
"We will do our very best to support our customers around the world during this difficult period. We are working directly with customers whose deliveries might be impacted by the situation at Al Taweelah.”
Iran has continued to attack key infrastructure in Gulf countries, causing disruptions in operations, amid its conflict with the US and Israel.
