(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The aluminium industry in the GCC region has seen a 31% growth in 2014 with the production of 5mn tonnes of primary aluminium compared to the previous year, Qatar Aluminium (Qatalum) chairman Abdulrahman Ahmed al-Shaibi said.
"Significantly, aluminium produced in the GCC now accounts for 10% of global aluminium production and this figure is set to increase," said al-Shaibi, who spoke before participants of the "1st Gulf Aluminium Casthouse (GulfCast) Conference" yesterday at the Sharq Village & Spa in Doha.
Al-Shaibi said infrastructure growth and spending "will involve the continued consumption of aluminium products," as he cited statistics from the World Bank, which estimated that up to $500bn will be spent by Gulf countries on infrastructure projects by 2020.
According to al-Shaibi, he expects the 6% growth in the global demand for aluminium "to continue in the near future," adding that the recent reduction in oil prices failed to upset production and market consumption.
"The country's competitive and strong oil and gas industry, bolstered further by strategic sovereign investments, has allowed Qatar's economy to remain strong enabling continued growth," he stressed.
Al-Shaibi also emphasised that the Qatar National Vision 2030 has been the driver for many projects as the country embarks on long-term social, economic, and human development strategies "to transform Qatar into an advanced knowledge-based society capable of sustaining its development."
"At Qatalum, we have seen a steady production increase to above design capacity. One hundred percent of Qatalum's ISO-certified liquid metal and value-added products have led to total exports of more than 2.5mn tonnes to 505 customers in 52 countries since start up.
"Sixty percent of Qatalum's products are sold to the highly-demanding automotive industry. The high-performance standard set by the Qatalum Casthouse has seen rising customer satisfaction together with on-time-delivery figures," al-Shaibi explained.
He stressed that Qatalum's position on the global smelters commodity research unit (CRU) cash cost curve improved from 12th place in 2012 to fourth place today, which reflects "strong emphasis on improvement throughout the organisation."
"This is an outstanding achievement, which the Qatalum management should be congratulated. Therefore, I am sure you will agree that the aluminium industry future remains bright both within Qatar and the GCC region, with many opportunities open for consideration," al-Shaibi said.
The event, which runs from March 2 to 4, gathered industry experts in environmental, technological, and operational strategy, which could be adopted by the aluminium industry in Qatar and the region, al-Shaibi said.
"This technology transfer is intended to further enhance the already highly-efficient smelters in the region to grow in productivity and gain a larger share of the global market," he added.
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