Dubal profits increase thanks to lower manufacturing costs

A 13 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit to Dh1.79 billion reported.

Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) yesterday reported a 13 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit to Dh1.79 billion as technological innovations pushed down manufacturing costs.

“[Dubal remains] one of the most profitable corporations in the Emirate of Dubai,” said Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and the chairman of Dubal.

Despite a 3 per cent fall in revenues to Dh9.5bn last year, significant cost reductions followed the adoption of “DX technology”, which allows for aluminium to be produced using smaller amounts of electricity.

The company produced just over 1 million tonnes of aluminium last year.

Safety also improved, as injuries fell by 39 per cent compared to three years previously, according to the company.

Emirates Aluminium (Emal), a joint venture between Dubal and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development, brought new production facilities online in September and aims to have an annual production capacity of 1.3 million tonnes by the end of this year.

Last year Emal and Dubal announced plans to merge to form Emirates Global Aluminium. This new company, which will have an anticipated market value of US$15bn, according to the Financial Times, is expected to become the world’s fifth-largest producer by volume.

Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak, Mubadala’s chief executive, described the mooted company as “a major industrial champion and engine of economic development for our people”, at the time of its announcement.

Aluminium Bahrain, one of the world’s largest producers, recorded a gross profit of 108.6 million Bahraini dinars (Dh1.05bn) this year, up 3.2 per cent against last year’s profits, as sales increased by 0.75 per cent.

This is on the back of a fallow period for aluminium, as the metal trades close to a four-year low on commodities markets.

The three-month forward price for aluminium on the London Metal Exchange hit a low of $1,677 per tonne this month – its lowest price since July 2009. It was trading at $1,745.5 in early noon trading yesterday on the LME.