Dubai’s Gulf Extrusions To Double Output

Dubai-based Gulf Extrusions Co will double its output as a new plant comes on stream next year to cater to growing demand from the industrial and construction sectors, a company executive said.

The firm, part of the Al Ghurair Group and one of the largest aluminium product makers in the Gulf, will lift annual output to 100,000 tonnes in the next three to four years, said general manager Modar al Mekdad.

“The growth is from regional and international demand and in markets where construction and industrial activity is rising,” he told Reuters at an industry conference.

“We export over 30 per cent of our production to Europe, India, Africa, the Middle East and southeast Asia,” he said, adding that more than half of the United Arab Emirates’ construction market was supplied by Gulf Extrusions.

The firm’s current output at its Dubai plant is 50,000 tonnes. A $225 million plant in Abu Dhabi, close to the Emirates Aluminium smelter, is to be operational by end-2015. The plant is a 50:50 joint venture with Abu Dhabi’s General Holding Co (Senaat).

The Abu Dhabi plant will be funded by equity and project finance from banks. State-owned Senaat is helping to drive Abu Dhabi’s industrial growth as the capital of the United Arab Emirates diversifies its economy away from oil.

By 2020, Gulf Extrusions plans to lift its annual output to at least 125,000 tonnes by opening a plant in Qatar. “With substantial growth capacity added, we are aiming to be in the top 10 aluminium extrusion companies globally by 2020.”