Emirates Aluminium says financial completion of phase I met 

(MENAFN) Emirates Aluminium (Emal) has successfully achieved financial completion of its USD5.7 billion Phase I project, the company said in a press release.

The company said that in July 2012,it has recorded cumulative output of 1.5 million tons of hot metal, the fastest production achieved by a single site smelter in the global aluminium industry to date.

Saeed Fadhel Al Mazrooei, President and CEO of Emal, said that the company is looking forward to finalizing the financing for Phase II as it seeks to become one of the largest and most advanced smelters in the world.

Emal, , the joint venture between Mubadala and Dubal, announced the approval of the Phase II expansion project in July last year.

The new expansion plan will include a new 444-cell potline, which together with a technology upgrade of the existing cells, is expected to boost annual production capacity to approximately 1.3 million tons by the end of 2014.

Construction is being funded by the shareholders while a comprehensive debt financing package is finalized, the company said.