Special Report: Metals & Mining - Gulf defies slump in metals and mining markets
Saudi Arabia’s plans for the aluminium industry, which encompass every stage in the supply chain from mine to smelter, will be a rare example of integrated production in the Gulf.
A bauxite mine in Qassim province in the north, owned by Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden), will yield the raw material. This will be refined and transported as alumina, via a purpose-built railway line, to a planned smelter at Ras al-Zour.
Access to domestically produced bauxite and cheap energy should give Maaden a competitive edge in aluminium production.
Saudi Arabia’s integrated approach is unlikely to be followed across the region, as no other GCC country has its own supply of bauxite.
The UAE’s Dubai Aluminium Company (Dubal) has secured its supplies by acquiring a 19 per cent stake in Companhia Alumina do Para, part of Brazilian mining giant Vale, earlier this month.
Maaden will not have to look beyond Saudi Arabia’s borders for its supplies, at least in the longer term. But the withdrawal of investment from UK/Australian mining group Rio Tinto in December has led to some delays.
Maaden will have to rely on imported alumina until it can complete its own refinery, but once the entire supply chain is in place, it will be able to take full advantage.
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