UAE primary aluminium industry promoted in Germany

Market awareness of the UAE’s growing primary aluminium sector in Europe has received another boost, thanks to the participation by Dubai Aluminium, DUBAL, and Emirates Aluminium, EMAL, at the 9^th World Trade Fair and Conference, ALUMINIUM 2012, which took place in Messe Düsseldorf, Germany, mid-October this year. Held biennially, ALUMINIUM 2012 was the third consecutive time that DUBAL and EMAL exhibited jointly at this forum (the first occasion being ALUMINIUM 2008). As before, the objective was two-fold: to promote the companies’ combined product portfolio to delegates, participants and other visitors to the exhibition; and to raise awareness of the UAE’s primary aluminium industry. 

According to Mohammed Al Mutawa, DUBAL’s General Manager Marketing & Sales: Europe & The Americas and EMAL’s General Manager Marketing & Sales, both objectives were fulfilled. “The combined DUBAL-EMAL exhibition stand at ALUMINIUM 2012 featured the extensive range of world-class aluminium products produced in the UAE and shipped across the globe; the two smelters’ adherence to the highest standards in environmental protection; and their foundation on sustainability principles. Already well-known in the European Union, DUBAL and EMAL’s foundry products are used extensively by the region’s automotive industry, comprising all the major carmakers, to manufacture wheels, engine components, plus the shiny rims and trims on high-end automobiles; as well as by the region’s aerospace industry to manufacture aeroplane sheet and plates,” says Al Mutawa. “By again displaying our combined product offering, we are confident of increased sales volumes in these and other sectors.” 

Al Mutawa adds that the DUBAL Marketing & Sales department is responsible for marketing the metal produced by both companies. “DUBAL has been an active player in the European market since 1996, shipping substantial product volumes each year to Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Czech Republic, Poland, France and Greece. The company has enjoyed good market share growth over the years, and this trend is set to continue,” he says. “For 2012, we expect that over 27 per cent of the 1,795,000 metric tonnes joint cast production of DUBAL and EMAL will be shipped to Europe, with the major proportion of this volume comprising billet and foundry re-melt products. Further ahead, the fact that the European Union as a whole needs to import approximately 60 per cent of its primary aluminium requirements offers excellent prospects for future market share growth for both DUBAL and EMAL.”