Emal to invest $3.8bn more

Emirates Aluminium (Emal), a joint venture between Abu Dhabi's Mubadala and Dubai Aluminium (Dubal), plans to invest $3.8 billion for its phase two development as it ramps up production to become the single largest greenfield smelter in the world, its chief executive said.

"Phase two, which we have just started rolling will have an investment of $3.8 billion," Saeed Fadhel Mazrouei told a forum of UAE and German businesses in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

The first phase investment totalled $5.7 billion he said.

German companies are actively involved in building Emal's facilities with 23 German firms securing contracts worth $243 million in the first phase. In the second phase, German companies have already bagged contracts worth $184 million, he said.

Emal has received loan facilities of $220 million from the German Export Credit agency, Mazrouei also said.

Current production is 750,000 tonnes per year, rising to 800,000 tonnes by the end of 2012, he said.

Production will rise further to 1.4 million tonnes annually when phase two gets operational in 2014, he said.

In August, Emal said it had awarded $700 million in contracts for an expansion project it plans to complete by 2014.

Emal's products are exported to 280 companies in 36 countries, Mazrouei said.

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