As part of efforts by the Khalifa Industrial Zone Abu Dhabi (Kizad) to raise its profile across the international business community, representatives from the giant UAE based industrial zone are in London this week attending the 18th CRU World Aluminium Conference.
Starting with a press briefing today, held at the home of London’s Baltic Exchange, the world’s only independent and leading trading and derivatives exchange for the commercial maritime industry, Kizad’s management team will be inviting British business interest and investment in its Aluminium Cluster throughout the three-day event, showcasing one of its fastest growing industrial clusters to UK-based investors.
One of nine dedicated sectors at Kizad, the ‘Aluminium Cluster’ has already seen billions of dollars earmarked for investment in this Abu Dhabi based industrial zone. Designed vertically, the clusters include Steel; Engineered Metal Products; Paper, Printing and Packaging; Glass; Food; Trade and Logistics, Mixed Use and, of course, the Aluminium cluster.
Kizad’s ‘Phase I’ is a 52 square kilometre area, including the the new deep-water Khalifa Port. ‘Phase II’ will expand the zone’s landmass up to 418 square kilometres (161.39 square miles) – an area approximately two-thirds the size of Singapore.
With Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) already a key anchor tenant since 2010, several other investors in the up, mid, and downstream sectors are either already operational or in the process of establishing manufacturing facilities, in Kizad’s Aluminium cluster.
EMAL – whose board has just cleared a further USD4.5 billion (GBP2.9 billion) for investment into its Kizad-based operations – currently supplies over 150 customers around the globe with high quality ISO9001 certified aluminium. This is available as sow, standard ingots, sheet ingots, foundry ingots and extrusion billets. EMAL’s sow and standard ingots are also traded on the London Metal Exchange.
With the recent state visit of UAE President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi, H.H. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, to the UK, the long history of business and trade between the two nations has once again been brought to the fore and publically recognised. In fact, British business has been heavily involved in the development of Kizad and Khalifa Port, from as early as 2007. These contracts and services have involved some of the UK’s biggest consultancy and contracting firms, including: WS Atkins & Partners Overseas; HPA/Halcrow; Scott Wilson Kirkpatrick & Co. Ltd and Mouchel Middle East. The value of contracts over the last five years is in the range of GBP40 million (AED 227.1million).
Commenting on the growth and inward investment being realised in the Aluminium sector in Abu Dhabi, Khaled Salmeen, CEO and Managing Director of Kizad, said:
“The advanced infrastructure at Kizad provides customers with reliable and sustainable production and distribution facilities. ‘Aluminium Cluster’ investors will also find that proximity to the only semi-automated deep sea port in the region, our innovative vertical clustering, Kizad’s advanced transportation network linking land, sea, rail and air, will all be instrumental to their success and ability to connect with their customers in the region and globally.”
Kizad, is the lunch sponsor at the World Aluminium Conference and will also be speaking at the event about new aluminium industry opportunities in Abu Dhabi. Their presentation will focus on how Kizad is maximising the competitive advantages for their current aluminium tenants, like EMAL, and for prospective companies looking to expand and take advantage of the unique business-friendly environment, in the UAE.
The CRU World Aluminium Conference is being held at the Guoman Hotel, Tower Bridge, London, and runs from 14-16 May.