Emirates Aluminium’s (Emal) Taweelah smelter has now produced 1.5 million tonnes of aluminium since it was commissioned in December 2009. It is the fastest a new smelting operation has reached that milestone, the company says.

The company, a joint venture between UAE-based Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) and Mubadala Development Company, has produced 500 tonnes in the past seven months.

Emal started the construction of its phase two smelter expansion earlier this year. The $5bn project will expand the smelter’s capacity to 1.3 million tonnes a year (t/y) from 750,000 t/y.