ABU DHABI // Abu Dhabi's strategic investment company has launched a joint venture to build a US$4 billion aluminium complex in Malaysia. The preliminary deal with 1Malaysia Development will deepen the involvement of Mubadala Development in one of the world's fastest-growing metals markets.
"We want to invest in aluminium smelters in places that have similar advantages to Abu Dhabi with competitive energy costs and good logistics," said Waleed al Muhairi, Mubadala's chief operating officer.
The agreement to build the smelter in Sarawak, on the island of Borneo, is still preliminary and its execution will hinge on regulatory approvals and an agreement on the price of electric power, among other things, he said. It will have a capacity of 750,000 tonnes a year, according to the initial plan.
1Malaysia Development plans to complement the smelter with other associated factories including an aluminium rolling mill, a cable plant, a casting plant and 10 extrusion outfits with an additional investment of $1.8bn. Mubadala will not participate in those ventures.
The decision to invest in Malaysian aluminium follows the successful completion of a smelter in Abu Dhabi by Emal, which is jointly owned by Mubadala and Dubai Aluminium. Emal recently reached full production of 750,000 tonnes a year and a decision is expected soon on a second phase that would double its capacity to make it the Gulf's biggest single smelter.
"Aluminium is a core sector. We are extremely happy with the success of that investment so we plan to invest further as opportunities arise," Mr al Muhairi said.
The new joint venture is the latest in a number of recent moves by Mubadala in Malaysia. The company is an investor in the Iskandar project, a massive new development zone near Malaysia's border with Singapore. It also has interests in Malaysia through Pearl Energy, an upstream oil and gas producer.
"All this is a strong signal of Abu Dhabi's confidence in Malaysia as a growth enabler," the Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak said. "It opens the way for more investment from the Middle East pouring into Malaysia."
The new facilities will be in the Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy, a focus of Malaysia's energy development strategy. The projects are expected to create 10,000 jobs during construction and 2,000 specialist jobs on completion.
The agrement was signed during a weekend visit to Malaysia by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.
Sheikh Mohammed is also chairman of Mubadala, Abu Dhabi's primary vehicle for diversifying the economy away from hydrocarbons.
The logic of aluminium production in the Gulf is to take advantage of cheap gas to generate the stable electricity supplies necessary for smelting: energy is the biggest single cost element in producing aluminium.
Hydroelectric power is a common source of energy for smelters in many other parts of the world.
Investment in aluminium globally is increasing as more industries start to use the metal as a lighter, cheaper alternative to steel. China is the world's largest producer and consumer of aluminium, much of which goes into construction.
"The expected growth [in aluminium demand] is around 6 per cent a year for the next ten years," Laurent Schmidt, the chief executive of Aluminium Bahrain, told The National at a recent aluminium conference in Dubai. "Now consider what is the consumption of aluminium this year. It's about 42 million tonnes. Six per cent growth means that every year you need additional production of 2.4m or 2.5m tonnes."
Much of that new production is expected to come from the Gulf and Asia. In addition to Emal, the Gulf has some of the world's biggest new smelter projects, including in Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
For Mubadala, aluminium is fast becoming one of the pillars of a growing portfolio of businesses in the aerospace, semiconductor manufacture and property sectors, among others.
The company owns a range of aircraft maintenance, repair and construction outfits, including Strata, a new aerospace composite materials manufacturing plant in Al Ain.
Through the Advanced Technology Investment Company, Mubadala also owns one of the largest semiconductor manufacturing businesses in the world.
afitch@thenational.ae
MATCH INFO
Euro 2020 qualifier
Ukraine 2 (Yaremchuk 06', Yarmolenko 27')
Portugal 1 (Ronaldo 72' pen)
Company%20Profile
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David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
FIRST TEST SCORES
England 458
South Africa 361 & 119 (36.4 overs)
England won by 211 runs and lead series 1-0
Player of the match: Moeen Ali (England)
The 10 Questions
- Is there a God?
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- Can we predict the future?
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- How do we shape the future?
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Date started: May 2018
Founder: Pir Arkam
Based: Dubai
Sector: Additive manufacturing (aka, 3D printing)
Staff: 18
Funding: Invested, supported and partnered by Joseph Group
Dunbar
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BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
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Five famous companies founded by teens
There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:
- Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate.
- Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc.
- Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway.
- Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
- Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.
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Starring: Ajay Devgn, Tabu, Shantanu Maheshwari, Jimmy Shergill, Saiee Manjrekar
Director: Neeraj Pandey
Rating: 2.5/5
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About Housecall
Date started: July 2020
Founders: Omar and Humaid Alzaabi
Based: Abu Dhabi
Sector: HealthTech
# of staff: 10
Funding to date: Self-funded
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