Our commercial success

Our biggest single contribution to the economies in the countries in which we operate is the value we generate ourselves. EGA has a track record of more than four decades of growth, and we aim to continue growing in the decades to come.

From a small regional aluminium smelter, capable of producing some 135,000 tonnes of metal per year, we have grown into an integrated global aluminium giant.

Today, one-in-every 25 tonnes of aluminium made worldwide is made by EGA in the UAE, and we are an increasingly important global supplier of bauxite, the ore from which aluminium is derived.

Procuring the goods and services we need locally increases the economic benefit of our activities in the countries in which we operate.

EGA prioritises orders from local suppliers whenever they are competitive commercially, encourages international suppliers to establish facilities within the UAE and Guinea, and works with Government and other stakeholders to enable the development of supply industries that do not yet exist in the countries.

In 2022, we spent over $2.18 billion on goods and services procured locally in the UAE, which was 39 per cent of our total procurement spend.

We have joined the Ministry of Industry & Advanced Technology’s in-country value programme, which aims to qualify and prioritise suppliers based on the proportion of their activity that is conducted within the UAE.

In Guinea, we spent $210 million on local procurement in 2023.

To assist and encourage local businesses in Guinea to tender for contracts, we have developed a specialist training programme providing details related to our tender process, to help suppliers meet the quality and integrity standards we require.

We believe that the development of a local supply chain is vital for Guinea to realise the full economic benefits of its natural resources.

EGA supplies almost all the UAE’s primary aluminium needs and is at the heart of a growing broader aluminium sector in our nation.

Today around 10 per cent of EGA’s total production is sold domestically, and some 26 UAE downstream companies use our metal to make products, from window frames to car parts. These companies are located across the country, in every Emirate except Fujairah.

Proximity to our production, along with the UAE’s logistics and other business advantages, means there is potential for the UAE’s downstream aluminium industry to grow further. We work with our existing customers, potential new entrants, and other stakeholders to support this whenever it is commercially-attractive for EGA.

We supply primary aluminium to more than 400 customers in over 50 countries around the world. Our aluminium supply is underpinned by a comprehensive global logistics operation. We make more than 10,000 shipments per year, in more than 100,000 containers.

Our key markets are Asia, the Middle East and North Africa region, Europe and the Americas. The main industries we serve are construction, automotive, cans and packaging, and electronics.

Guinea Alumina Corporation exported 14.1 million wet tonnes of bauxite ore in 2023.

Over the past five financial years, EGA has generated some $3.7 billion of net income.

‘Premium aluminium’ comprised more than 76 per cent of our 2023 production, compared to 72 per cent in 2020.

Our smelters are world-class, Tier 1 assets positioned in the first quartile of the cash cost curve.

EGA’s power plants are amongst the most efficient in the Middle East and globally, further reducing operating costs.

In 2019, EGA began production at Al Taweelah alumina refinery, inaugurating alumina refining as a new industrial activity in the United Arab Emirates. The plant is currently meeting almost half EGA’s requirement for this feedstock for aluminium smelters, replacing some imports. We also began exporting bauxite in 2019 from our bauxite mining operation, GAC.