Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) and Mubadala Development Company have completed the full acquisition of Guinea Alumina Corporation (GAC) after buying the stakes previously owned by Global Alumina and BHP Billiton.

The Guinea-based corporation manages a mineral resource project expected to provide high-quality raw materials for the aluminium production value chain. It holds a 50-year renewable mining concession on an approximately 1.3 billion tonne bauxite deposit.

Th acquisition follows the announcement of the creation of Emirates Global Aluminium, a $15bn (AED44bn) equal-ownership joint venture of Dubal and Emirates Aluminium (Emal), set to formally commence in 2014. Emal is currently half-owned by Mubadala.

Globally demand for aluminium is forecast to grow by 8 per cent in 2013-14, although there already is surplus in the market, estimated at 1 million tonnes this year.

In 2012, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman combined produced 4.4 million tonnes of primary aluminium, with the UAE accounting for nearly half that amount. GCC production is expected to equal close to 6 million tonnes a year (t/y) by 2015.