Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Aluminium (Emal) has awarded a contract to Italy-based chemicals group Fluorsid for the supply of aluminium fluoride to its smelter operation in Taweelah.

The $93m contract covers the supply of aluminium fluoride between 2013 and 2016 and extends the existing relationship between the two companies.

After the completion of Emal’s phase two expansion, the smelter’s potline will comprise 1,200 pots, with each pot consuming about 18 kilogrammes of aluminium fluoride for every tonne of aluminium produced, according to Emal.

Emal is investing about $5bn to expand the Taweelah smelter’s capacity to 1.3 million tonnes a year (t/y) from the current limit of 800,000 t/y by 2014.

The company is a joint venture of Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Company and Dubai Aluminium (Dubal).