Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) made two announcements on 3 November at the Gateway Gulf 2024 investment forum hosted by the Bahrain Economic Development Board (Bahrain EDB) in Manama. The announcements were made amid a series of important changes for the company, one of the world's largest aluminium producers.

Alba and Japan's Daiki Aluminium Industry Company will form a joint venture known as Alba-Daiki Sustainable Solutions (ADSS) to develop an aluminium dross processing facility in Bahrain. Alba will hold a 70% stake in the joint venture. Daiki will own the remaining 30%. Both partners intend for the aluminium dross plant to commence operations by September 2026.

An aluminium dross plant processes dross, a byproduct of aluminium melting, to recover aluminium metal and produce aluminium oxide, minimising waste and environmental impact. By recycling these materials, the plant contributes to resource efficiency and sustainability in the aluminium industry.

Alba and Daiki first announced plans for their strategic partnership in August this year.

Alba and Bahrain-based Array Innovation also announced plans to accelerate Alba's Industry 4.0 digitalisation journey with advanced artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics and automation solutions to optimise Alba's operations and boost efficiencies.

Alba has made several key announcements in recent months. On 24 October, it informed the Bahrain Bourse, where it is listed, that it had appointed advisors to guide its due diligence process as it explores a potential business combination with Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden).

The appointed advisors are Moelis & Company as financial advisor, Hatch as technical advisor, McKinsey & Company as commercial advisor, PricewaterhouseCoopers as the financial and tax advisor, Teneo as the public relations advisor and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer as the legal advisor.

That announcement followed the signing of an agreement in September by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic)with Maaden to sell its 20.62% shareholding in Alba. Sabic expects to make sales proceeds of $965m-$1.06bn from the transaction, the completion of which is subject to regulatory approvals from relevant authorities in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

In mid-October, Alba renewed its long-term agreement with Alcoa Corporation to secure a stable supply of alumina. Under the terms of the agreement, Alcoa will supply up to 16.5 million tonnes of smelter-grade alumina to Alba over a 10-year period, commencing in 2026.

Also in September, Alba announced that its board had approved an estimated $30m project to increase the company’s metals output capacity from its fourth and fifth production lines. The project is known as Lines 4-5 Creep-up and is expected to increase Alba’s metals production capacity by 8,000 metric tonnes a year (t/y) upon completion.