State-owned Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) is spending US$5.2 billion to boost capacity at its smelter in Dubai and build an alumina refinery in Abu Dhabi, a company executive said yesterday.
EGA, the world's fifth-largest aluminium producer, was formed last year with the merger of Abu Dhabi's Emirates Aluminium (Emal) and Dubai Aluminium (Dubal).
EGA is adding about 40,000 tonnes per annum to the 1 million tonnes per annum smelter at Dubal due for start-up in 2017 and it is building a 2.2 million tonnes per annum alumina refinery in Al Taweelah in Abu Dhabi set for start-up in the first quarter of 2018, said Mohammad Abdulrahman, EGA’s vice president, Emal Phase II and major projects.
“To secure the raw material the decision was from the management that we need to have our own refinery to support and produce alumina for ourselves,” he said.
EGA, which reached a capacity of 2.4 million tonnes per annum last year, would like to become the fourth-largest aluminium producer in the next two to three years, he added.
“Today we are running at the fifth position of producing aluminium. Between us and the fourth one is 200,000 [tonnes per annum]. We are trying our best to catch that position in the next two to three years,” said Mr. Abdulrahman.
Aluminium is being increasingly used by car makers, who are favouring the metal in aspects of production over steel because of its lightness, which boosts vehicle fuel efficiency.
EGA, which also owns the bauxite producer Guinea Alumina Corp in Guinea, is also on track to start exporting 12 million tonnes per annum of bauxite mainly to the Al Taweelah alumina refinery in the first quarter of 2018.
In phase two of the Guinea project, EGA plans to build an alumina refinery in the African country to produce 2 million tonnes per annum by 2020, he added.
EGA is a joint venture between the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Development and the Dubai sovereign wealth fund Investment Corporation of Dubai.
dalsaadi@thenational.ae
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From Europe to the Middle East, economic success brings wealth - and lifestyle diseases
A rise in obesity figures and the need for more public spending is a familiar trend in the developing world as western lifestyles are adopted.
One in five deaths around the world is now caused by bad diet, with obesity the fastest growing global risk. A high body mass index is also the top cause of metabolic diseases relating to death and disability in Kuwait, Qatar and Oman – and second on the list in Bahrain.
In Britain, heart disease, lung cancer and Alzheimer’s remain among the leading causes of death, and people there are spending more time suffering from health problems.
The UK is expected to spend $421.4 billion on healthcare by 2040, up from $239.3 billion in 2014.
And development assistance for health is talking about the financial aid given to governments to support social, environmental development of developing countries.
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How to play the stock market recovery in 2021?
If you are looking to build your long-term wealth in 2021 and beyond, the stock market is still the best place to do it as equities powered on despite the pandemic.
Investing in individual stocks is not for everyone and most private investors should stick to mutual funds and ETFs, but there are some thrilling opportunities for those who understand the risks.
Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo Bank, says the 20 best-performing US and European stocks have delivered an average return year-to-date of 148 per cent, measured in local currency terms.
Online marketplace Etsy was the best performer with a return of 330.6 per cent, followed by communications software company Sinch (315.4 per cent), online supermarket HelloFresh (232.8 per cent) and fuel cells specialist NEL (191.7 per cent).
Mr Garnry says digital companies benefited from the lockdown, while green energy firms flew as efforts to combat climate change were ramped up, helped in part by the European Union’s green deal.
Electric car company Tesla would be on the list if it had been part of the S&P 500 Index, but it only joined on December 21. “Tesla has become one of the most valuable companies in the world this year as demand for electric vehicles has grown dramatically,” Mr Garnry says.
By contrast, the 20 worst-performing European stocks fell 54 per cent on average, with European banks hit by the economic fallout from the pandemic, while cruise liners and airline stocks suffered due to travel restrictions.
As demand for energy fell, the oil and gas industry had a tough year, too.
Mr Garnry says the biggest story this year was the “absolute crunch” in so-called value stocks, companies that trade at low valuations compared to their earnings and growth potential.
He says they are “heavily tilted towards financials, miners, energy, utilities and industrials, which have all been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic”. “The last year saw these cheap stocks become cheaper and expensive stocks have become more expensive.”
This has triggered excited talk about the “great value rotation” but Mr Garnry remains sceptical. “We need to see a breakout of interest rates combined with higher inflation before we join the crowd.”
Always remember that past performance is not a guarantee of future returns. Last year’s winners often turn out to be this year’s losers, and vice-versa.
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