News & Market Analysis: EGA Reports 'Strong' Progress On Al Taweelah Restart With A Return To Full Production Expected In Up To 6 Months

Emirates Global Aluminium has reported that restoration work at its Al Taweelah site is progressing ahead of schedule, with 89 of the plant's 1,262 reduction cells restarted as of today and key early milestones reached faster than initially anticipated.

Al Taweelah, EGA's flagship smelter in Abu Dhabi with nameplate capacity of approximately 1.5 million tonnes per year, was forced into emergency shutdown on 28 March following Iranian missile and drone strikes on the Khalifa Economic Zone. The shutdown was uncontrolled, power to the site was lost, forcing the potlines into an unplanned freeze in which molten metal solidified inside the reduction cells, one of the most operationally destructive events a smelter can experience.

EGA's restoration programme requires each of the plant's 1,262 reduction cells to be individually cleared and restarted. EGA report that anode removal has been completed across all cells, bath cleaning is around 90% complete, and frozen metal has been removed from more than 20% of cells. The first restored cell was restarted on 26 May. The casthouse produced its first cast metal on 4 May, remelting frozen metal recovered from the cells. The Al Taweelah alumina refinery is expected to produce its first alumina early in Q3, with a potentially rapid ramp-up to follow. EGA said hot metal production ramp-up is not expected to depend on full alumina refinery recovery.

EGA's Jebel Ali smelter, with approximately 1.2 million tonnes of annual capacity, has continued at full production throughout. EGA said it is currently selling more metal than Jebel Ali is producing, drawing down the significant stockpiles of finished metal that built up at UAE ports during the Hormuz closure, with a return to pre-crisis shipment levels requiring the strait's full reopening.

The progress update comes as LME Aluminium cash has fallen sharply from the four-year high of $3,855/t reached on June 2 and settling at $3075/t on July 1, as US-Iran diplomatic progress raised expectations of a gradual supply recovery from the Gulf region.

Al Taweelah alone represented approximately 1.5 million tonnes of annual primary aluminium capacity at the time it was struck, roughly 9% of all Gulf output and a meaningful share of the approximately 3 million tonnes of GCC capacity disrupted by the conflict. EGA said it continues to work to accelerate the restoration timeline beyond the original estimate of up to one year.