The man hailed for making Emirates Global Aluminium the global leader in the production of ‘premium aluminium’ is stepping down after 37 years.
Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, onn Wednesday announced the resignation of Walid Al Attar, chief commercial officer.
Al Attar has been named the architect of the marketing strategy that made EGA the biggest ‘premium aluminium’ producer in the world.
He will continue to provide his expertise to EGA as a senior advisor to CEO Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, a statement said.
Bin Kalban said: “Walid Al Attar is a titan of our company and industry, and I thank him for his immense contributions to EGA over almost four decades of service. Walid joined Dubai Aluminium as a very young man, and rose to the top of our company through ability and drive. He is a role model I advise all young UAE nationals joining EGA to emulate.”
Al Attar (pictured below) added: “I feel a great sense of pride at everything we have achieved at EGA, starting as a small regional smelter and building a national industrial champion whose metal makes modern life possible all around the world. I look forward to supporting EGA as it continues to grow, and watching those I have helped develop take the company to new heights.”
Al Attar joined Dubai Aluminium in 1984 as a trainee, working first in the shipping department. He joined marketing and sales in 1994, playing a key role in EGA’s transition from selling commodity metal to traders to building direct relationships with customer making products using the metal. He was appointed chief marketing officer when EGA was formed through the merger of Dubai Aluminium and Emirates Aluminium in 2014.
Earlier this year, Al Attar was named world’s top aluminium executive 2020-2021 at an annual global industry summit in Chicago, in recognition of his contributions to the aluminium industry.
EGA is equally-owned by Mubadala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi and the Investment Corporation of Dubai and is the largest company jointly owned by the two emirates.
EGA operates aluminium smelters in Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah, an alumina refinery in Al Taweelah and a bauxite mine and associated export facilities in the Republic of Guinea.
EGA’s aluminium is the second largest made-in-the UAE export after oil and gas and the company has more than 400 customers in over 50 countries.
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