Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) expects to increase aluminium sales in the GCC by 69 per cent in 2011, building on strong profit growth in 2010.

The company reported total GCC sales of 171,106 tonnes in 2010 and the Dubal expects this to increase significantly.

“We are quite confident that the overall volume of Dubal and Emal metal sold within the GCC will rise to approximately 290,000 metric tonnes in 2011,” says Nasser Zainal, general manager for marketing and sales.

Sales in the Mena region outside the GCC is expected to grow by 12 per cent to 127,875 tonnes, says Zainal.

Dubal exports 92 per cent of its production. The producer more than doubled net profit in 2010 to $580m, making it one of Dubai’s most profitable state-owned enterprises.

The company markets both the output from its smelter in Jebel Ali and that of Emirates Aluminium (Emal), a 50:50 joint venture between itself and Abu Dhabi’s investment arm Mubadala, located at in the Kizad industrial zone in Taweelah.

With Emal’s phase I commissioned late in 2009, the combined output stands at just over 1,75 million tonnes a year.

Dubal’s good performance has attracted buying interest. Mubadala is interested in acquiring a stake in the company, according to media reports, as Dubai is struggling to repay the debts amassed during the global credit crunch.