Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has restarted 25 per cent of the reduction cells at its Al Taweelah smelter in Abu Dhabi, as the company works towards restoring full production in the first quarter of 2027.
EGA said 315 of the smelter’s 1,262 reduction cells have now been restarted following significant damage to the facility on March 28, when an Iranian attack on Khalifa Economic Zone Abu Dhabi led to an emergency shutdown of all the company’s facilities at the site.
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The company is repairing and restarting cells progressively to restore hot metal production, with work taking place simultaneously across all three potlines to accelerate the recovery.
Potline 1 was energised on May 26, followed by potline 3 on July 13 and potline 2 on August 3.
Once restarted, each reduction cell typically takes around a week to stabilise and reach full production. Some of the hot metal produced is being used to restart additional cells, while the remainder is sent to EGA’s Al Taweelah Casthouse to produce finished premium aluminium products.
Around 1,000 people working on restoration
Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, said restoring production at Al Taweelah represented the biggest challenge EGA has faced.
He said a dedicated team was using decades of experience alongside new methods to safely accelerate the restoration.
“Our continued strong progress gives us confidence that we will reach full production in Q1 2027,” Bin Kalban said.
Around 1,000 people are currently working on restoring hot metal production at the Al Taweelah smelter.
Alumina refinery operating at 50% capacity
EGA’s Al Taweelah alumina refinery is meanwhile operating at around 50 per cent capacity.
The company said the pace of further increases in alumina production will depend on supply chain considerations and the optimisation of its alumina sourcing strategy.
However, EGA said the continued recovery of aluminium production at the smelter does not depend on the refinery returning to full capacity.
Production ramp up at EGA’s new Al Taweelah recycling plant is also progressing as planned, with full production expected by late Q4
Source: Khaleej Times