The local Gulf Extrusions Company (GulfEx) is expected to issue tenders for its planned $122m aluminium extrusion plant located at Taweelah in Abu Dhabi by the end of the second quarter of 2010, the general manager of the company tells MEED.  

Modar al-Mekdad says that the plant will be built next to the new 700,000 tonnes-a-year (t/y) capacity aluminium smelter owned by Emirates Aluminium (Emal) as part of a planned aluminium park that will also be home to a rolling mill and cable plant.

“We are on track and on time. Production will be 50,000-t/y and it will cater more for the industrial sectors rather than architecture [construction projects],” Al-Mekdad says. “Hopefully by the end of the second quarter, we will be ready to issue the tender.”

The submission date for the tender will be during the third quarter with the winning bidder being announced in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The decision to go ahead with the plant in Abu Dhabi means that the $64m extrusion plant in Qatar that GulfEx was planning to build near the new Qatar Aluminium smelter in the Gulf state has now been cancelled, says Al-Mekdad.   

“When we were offered the opportunity in Abu Dhabi, we decided not to continue in Qatar although the Qatar market is looking very promising,” Al-Mekdad says. “The objective of the Emal smelter is to add value to the UAE economy and [GulfEx] believed that building an aluminium park around it was an excellent idea that we wanted to support.”

GulfEx are also close to finalising the acquisition of the UK-based aluminium car parts manufacturer Sport Carrier. The company plans to move production from Wellingborough in the UK to Jebel Ali in Dubai with technical support packaging and warehouse facilities being maintained in the UK.

“We already have the facilities set up and we are looking at being operational by August,” Al-Mekdad says.   

GulfEx is owned by the Dubai-based Al-Ghurair Group of Companies.