The planned IPO of Emirates Global Aluminium will likely go ahead later this year, according to Abdulla Kalban, EGA’s managing director and CEO.
“We are on track for the IPO in the second half of 2018,” Kalban told reports in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.
Once it goes ahead, EGA will become the second major listing by a state-owned UAE company, following the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNO) IPO that took place last year.
Refinery progress
On Wednesday, the company announced that it has completed the first significant section of its $3.3 billion Al Taweelah alumina refinery, the first such facility of its kind in the UAE.
In a statement, EGA announced that it completed work on the refinery’s calcination process facility following 2.4 million hours of work. The calcination portion of the refinery will perform the final stage in the process of refining bauxite ore into alumina by conducting a roasting process to remove remaining water.
Once completed, the refinery will refine bauxite ore into alumina, the feedstock for aluminium smelters.
The refinery will be completed in sequence to allow for the pre-commissioning of the thousands of pieces of equipment required by the plant. According to EGA, the calcination process facility alone contains more than 1,700 instruments, over 100 motors and 165 kilometres of cables.
The first alumina from the refinery is expected to be completed during the first half of 2019. There are currently 11,000 people working on the project, which stands at 82 percent completed.
“The first completion of a major section of Al Taweelah alumina refinery is a significant milestone in the development of this huge project, which will secure for EGA the competitive supply of the feedstock for aluminium smelters,” Kalban said. “We continue to make good progress on the project as a whole.”
Full capacity
Once production has been ramped up to full capacity, the Al Taweelah facility will produce approximately 2 million tonnes of alumina each year, meeting 40 percent of EGA’s requirements.
To supply the bauxite, EGA has signed an agreement with Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée in the Republic of Guinea, where EGA is also developing a bauxite mine and export facilities.
Al Taweelah alumina refinery is located next to EGA’s Al Taweelah aluminium smelter in Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi.
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