Ahmed Saleh al-Noaimi, Alba

As chief executive officer (CEO) of Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), Ahmed Saleh al-Noaimi oversees one of the Gulf’s biggest aluminium producing complexes at Bahrain’s Hidd industrial area. He took over as Alba’s CEO in July 2005, replacing Australian Bruce Hall. With more than 30 years experience at Alba, Al-Noaimi has held various positions at the company since starting his career there in 1974. Before becoming CEO, he was deputy CEO, commercial and services, and has also held the position of general manager of finance. Under Al-Noaimi’s financial supervision, Alba released a $200m bond on the Bahrain Stock Exchange in 2003. Last year, Al-Noaimi was appointed to the Arab Forum for Environment and Development’s (AFED) board of trustees. Following the completion of its $1.7bn expansion in 2005, Alba’s five potlines have an aluminium production capacity of 830,000 tonnes a year.

Contact - Tel: (+973) 1783 0000

Abdullah Kalban, Dubal

When appointed in April 2005, Abdullah Kalban was the first UAE national to take the position of CEO at Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) since its formation in 1979. He joined the company in 1985, beginning his career as a supervisor at the baking kilns at Dubal’s Jebel Ali site. Since then, he has held several managerial positions including manager of operations and maintenance at the smelter, and general manager of smelting operations. In 2000, he was made Dubal’s director of operations. Kalban holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the University of New Haven, US. He also sits on the board of directors at Emirates Industrial Bank, and is a former chairman of the London-based International Aluminium Institute’s safety committee. Dubal’s operations comprise eight potlines with a production capacity of 900,000 tonnes a year.

Contact - Tel: (+971) 4884 6666

Truls Gautesen, Qatalum

Truls Gautesen’s involvement in the Gulf’s aluminium sector goes back more than 30 years to when he began working for Aluminium Bahrain before moving to Norwegian aluminium producer Hydro in 1980. He is currently CEO of Qatalum, a joint venture of Qatar Petroleum and Hydro, which is developing a 580,000-tonne-a-year aluminium plant in the emirate set to begin production in 2010. Before taking up this position, he was Hydro’s president of primary aluminium production, overseeing the operation of 11 aluminium plants in Norway, Germany, Australia, Canada and Slovakia. He has held several senior positions within Hydro, making his initial mark as general manager of Europe’s largest aluminium plant at Karmoy in Norway. Gautesen studied at the Norwegian Institute of Technology, where he qualified as a chartered engineer, specialising in technical electrochemistry.

Contact - Tel: (+974) 441 3136

Abdullah Busfar, Maaden

Maaden vice-president Abdullah Busfar is also the company’s head of projects and has been responsible for steering Maaden’s aluminium strategic business unit. He joined the company in 1999, and now oversees procurement, contracting, human resources, public and government affairs, safety, security and legal services for all of Maaden’s business lines. This includes the development of the company’s $8.5bn aluminium smelting complex at Ras al-Zour. An electrical engineer by training, Busfar obtained his bachelor’s degree with honours from the University of Colorado, US, in 1981. He is also a graduate of the US’ Columbia University’s senior executive programme. Busfar is a member of the National Industrial Committee in Riyadh, and an executive committee member of the College of Science & Technology in Taif.

Contact - Tel: (+966) 1472 1222

Tony Kinsman, Sohar Aluminium

Australian Tony Kinsman was appointed CEO of Oman’s Sohar Aluminium in 2004. Prior to joining Sohar, he spent 15 years with Australia’s Comalco in Australia and New Zealand. Kinsman’s experience in the aluminium sector includes overseeing the upgrade of Comalco’s New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS), the development of the company’s bauxite mine at Weipa on Australia’s Cape York Peninsula, and the $1bn expansion of the Boyne smelter at Gladstone. Kinsman holds a degree in engineering and an MBA from the Graduate School of Management in Melbourne, Australia. Sohar Aluminium is Oman’s first new aluminium facility, with a production capacity of 350,000 tonnes a year, starting later this year. The company is 40 per cent owned by Oman Oil Company, 40 per cent by Abu Dhabi Water & Electricity Authority (Adwea), and 20 per cent by Canada’s Alcan.

Contact - Tel: (+968) 2457 3800

Duncan Hedditch, Emal

Australian Duncan Hedditch was appointed CEO of Emirates Aluminium (Emal), a joint venture of Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) and Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala, when the company was formed in 2007. He had previously been advising Mubadala on the development of its aluminium projects. Before moving into the Gulf’s aluminium sector, Hedditch held the position of managing director of Australian operations for Russian aluminium producer Rusal. He had previously spent two years as managing director at Rusal’s Krasnoyarsk aluminium smelter in Siberia. Prior to joining Rusal, Hedditch worked at Australia’s Comalco. Hedditch holds a degree in electrical engineering from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia. Emal’s $8bn smelter, under construction at the Khalifa Port & Industrial Zone in Taweelah, is expected to start production in early 2010.

Contact - Tel: (+971) 2509 2222