A giant primary aluminum production plant worth SR26 billion is being weighed by Saudi Arabia, a study by the Gulf Organization for Industrial Consulting (GOIC) said on Wednesday. The plant will have a production capacity of 720,000 tons of primary aluminum in a year. The report showed that Saudi Arabia is working on a full-fledged plant to process bauxite ore and establish an aluminum smelter in Ras Al Zour, north of Jubail on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabian Mining Co. (Maaden) signed a cooperation agreement with Rio Tinto Alcan to build an aluminim smelter and rolling mill as part of Phase 1 of the Aluminum Complex, located in the Minerals Industrial City at Ras Al Zour. The GOIC study, entitled “Aluminium Trade and Industry in GCC States,” said the Maaden and Alcan joint venture is part of a strategic project to obtain raw minerals in Al Zobaira mining region. The project also includes an aluminum refinery with an annual capacity of 1.6 million tons and an aluminum smelter with an annual productive capacity of 720,000 tons in addition to a huge port for export of the products. There will also be a power generating plant with a capacity of 1,400 megawatts. These projects will make electricity, steam and desalinated water available to the region. The first phase of the project will have a production capacity of 700,000 tons, and the investment will reach about $5 billion. This was under an agreement signed between Emaar. The mining facilities in Al Zobaira will be linked with the refinery and smelter in the new mineral industrial city in Ras Al Zour via the ambitious north-south railroad, the study said, adding that the Kingdom is also building a huge aluminum smelter at King Abdullah Economic City in Rabigh, on the western coast of Saudi Arabia.
