Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the world’s largest producer of premium aluminium, has announced that it has reached a major milestone of 50 million tonnes of cast metal produced since operations began in 1979.
Aluminium from EGA is the UAE’s biggest export after oil and gas and is supplied to more than 50 countries. Today, the company produces roughly one in every 25 tonnes of aluminium made worldwide.
EGA’s journey began as a small regional smelter in Jebel Ali, with an annual capacity of just 135 thousand tonnes when production started in 1979. The Jebel Ali site has since undergone eight major expansions. It took nearly three decades for EGA to achieve its first 10 million tonnes of cast metal.
Production scaled significantly with the launch of the Al Taweelah smelter in Abu Dhabi in 2009, which was the largest in the world at the time it was built. In 2024 alone, EGA sold 2.74 million tonnes of cast metal.
Aluminium plays a vital role in modern life, forming part of everything from skyscrapers and transport to consumer electronics. As the metal is infinitely recyclable, much of what EGA produces today will remain in use for generations.
Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, said, “Together at EGA, we have innovated aluminium to make modern life possible since 1979. Reaching 50 million tonnes of cast metal production is a proud milestone, and an opportunity for us to reflect on the immense contribution this important UAE product has made to people’s lives worldwide.”
Looking ahead, EGA is developing the UAE’s largest aluminium recycling plant at Al Taweelah, which will have the capacity to process 170 thousand tonnes annually when it comes online in the first quarter of 2026.
The company is also moving forward with plans to build the first new primary aluminium production plant in the United States since 1980. The facility, located in Oklahoma, will nearly double American primary aluminium production and is expected to deliver first hot metal by the end of the decade.
EGA marks milestone with 50mn tonnes of aluminium produced
