UAE's EGA signs deal with Indonesia to provide tech know-how for aluminium smelter

EGA to provide the expertise to upgrade the performance of the INALUM smelter in North Sumatra

Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest industrial company in the United Arab Emirates outside oil and gas, has signed a series of agreements with PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (INALUM) to provide techShow more

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the largest industrial company in the UAE outside the oil and gas sector, signed agreements with a state-owned Indonesian smelting company for technology upgrades and potential construction projects.

EGA will provide the expertise to upgrade the performance of PT Indonesia Asahan Aluminium (INALUM)'s smelter by retrofitting improvements to its existing technology, which was first installed in 1982, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

The project, which is expected to take about 18 months to complete, aims to increase aluminium production at the North Sumatran smelter by 20,000 tonnes a year.

"We are confident we will complete this project ahead of the contractual schedule," Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, chief executive of EGA, said. "EGA is looking to strengthen our strategic relationships with Indonesian companies throughout the aluminium value chain in [the] near future."

EGA is jointly owned by Abu Dhabi’s strategic investment arm, Mubadala Investment Company, and the Investment Corporation of Dubai. It has more than 400 customers in over 50 countries. In 2019, EGA sold 2.6 million tonnes of cast metal.

The UAE industrial giant said it has extensive experience in upgrading aluminium smelting technology and completed a series of similar upgrades across its sites in Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah over the past decade.

The tech upgrade will help Inalum to increase the production capacity of aluminium ingots and billets that it expo and foundry alloy that it exports globally.

EGA and Inalum also agreed on broader cooperation, including a potential partnership for building a new aluminium smelter in Indonesia using EGA’s proprietary technology.

The company has developed its own aluminium smelting technology for more than 25 years and has used it in all its smelter expansions.

In 2016, EGA became the first UAE industrial company to license its core industrial process technology internationally. Aluminium Bahrain’s Potline 6, built with EGA’s DX+ Ultra technology, began production in 2019, according to EGA.

Last month, EGA signed an agreement with NEO Aluminio Colombia, which could lead to the export of EGA's UAE-developed technology for the first aluminium production facility in Colombia.