UAE's EGA to develop silicon metal manufacturing unit

Factory would help the country secure supplies of strategic raw material used to create high strength alloys for the automotive industry

Emirates Global Aluminium is the largest importer of silicon metal, with an annual demand of 60,000 tonnes. Photo: EGA

Emirates Global Aluminium, the UAE’s biggest industrial company outside the oil and gas sector, is planning to manufacture silicon metal, a key raw material used in the production of “premium aluminium” locally.

Currently, the UAE has no domestic silicon metal manufacturing capacity and EGA is the largest importer of silicon metal with an annual demand of about 60,000 tonnes.

“Developing a silicon metal manufacturing facility would secure our supply of a strategic raw material,” said EGA chief executive Abdulnasser bin Kalban.

“Once we have met our own demand we could expand further, creating a new growth opportunity for our company while supporting the development of new local industries in line with the goals of Operation 300bn and Make it in the Emirates, and the global energy transition.”

The construction of the silicon metal plant could begin “as soon as next year”, he said.

The new move comes at a time when the UAE, the Arab world's second-largest economy, is seeking to increase the industrial sector's contribution to its gross domestic product to Dh300 billion ($82bn) by 2031, from the current Dh133bn.

The UAE is also encouraging companies to manufacture products locally as part of the Make it in the Emirates strategy.

Silicon metal is added to aluminium during the casting process to create high strength alloys used in the automotive industry.

About 70 per cent of the world’s silicon metal manufacturing capacity is currently based in China, with the industry largely powered by coal.

Silicon metal is also an essential raw material for other industries, including silicones that are used in everything from adhesives to contact lenses, as well as high-purity silicon that is used to manufacture solar photovoltaic cells and semiconductors.

“The UAE is expected to become a significant market for solar photovoltaics, with its ambitious goals to expand solar power generation capacity, including to meet [the] EGA’s demand for cleaner energy,” the EGA said.

“The domestic supply of silicon metal could create the opportunity for a local solar photovoltaics manufacturing value chain to develop.”

Earlier this year, EGA, which is jointly owned by Abu Dhabi’s strategic investment arm Mubadala Investment Company and the Investment Corporation of Dubai, announced plans to shift to nuclear and solar energy for the production of aluminium amid higher demand for sustainably developed raw materials.