The UAE emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai today said they have merged their two aluminium smelters to form a USD 15 billion entity that would be the world's fifth largest producer of the metal.
Emirates Aluminium (Emal) and Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) will be merged into a new entity named Emirates Global Aluminium, the WAM state news agency said.
The combined assets of the two firms are valued at USD 15 billion, and it will become the world's fifth largest when Emal completes its second phase of expansion in the first quarter of 2014, WAM said.
Emal is reportedly expanding its production capacity from 800,000 tonnes annually to 1.3 million tonnes, while Dubal's capacity is around one million tonnes.
Oil-rich Gulf countries have a number of large smelters, including, Alba of Bahrain, and Sohar in Oman. Saudi Arabia opened last year a smelter in the energy-rich eastern region, with an annual capacity of 740,000 tonnes.
