Contractors wanting to bid for the construction contract for the $2.5bn Ras Al-Zour aluminium rolling mill project in Saudi Arabia have attended the first clarification meeting for the project.

The meeting was hosted in Bahrain by the Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) and the US’ Alcoa. The contractors included South Korean contractors Daelim, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Samsung Engineering. A visit to the project site at Ras Al-Zour in Saudi Arabia was also incorporated.

The US’ Fluor was awarded the engineering, procurement, construction and management (EPCM) contract for the rolling mill in May. A source also tells MEED that the invitations to bid will be issued by Fluor for the construction work shortly. MEED reported in June that Fluor will also be responsible for the equipment procurement for the facility (MEED 11:06:2010).

The rolling mill is part of a $10.8bn aluminium complex and will have a capacity of up to 450,000 tonnes-a-year (t/y) when completed in the fourth quarter of 2013.

The site will also include a 1.8 million tonnes-a-year alumina refinery and a 740,000-t/y aluminium smelter, with a 4 million-t/y bauxite mine being built at Al-Baitha.

Maaden holds a 74.9 per cent stake in the aluminium complex, while Alcoa owns the remaining 25.1 per cent.