Dubai Aluminum Planning More Than $14 Billion in Investments

SUGAR LAND--August 4, 2008--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Dubai Aluminum Company Limited (Dubal) (Dubai, United Arab Emirates), the seventh largest primary aluminum producer in the world, is edging up to fifth position with plans for investments of more than $14 billion. Worldwide demand for aluminum increased from 28 million tons in 1990 to more than 40 million tons in 2006, and that figure is estimated to rise to 65 million tons by 2020. The main drivers behind the increase are the transportation, construction, electronics and aerospace industries. As part of Dubal's investment strategy, Mubadala Development and Dubal began construction through their subsidiary Emirates Aluminum on the first phase of an aluminum smelter complex with a 2,000-megawatt waste-heat-fired power station in the industrial city of Al Taweelah. SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) (Montreal, Quebec) was awarded the engineering contract, and GE Energy (NYSE:GE) (Fairfield, Connecticut) was awarded the $500 million equipment contract for the power plant. The company is also planning investments in upstream industries, brownfield expansions, greenfield projects and joint-venture partnerships with companies, including Sonatrach and Larsen & Toubro (BOM:500510) (Mumbai, India).