Billets for use in the extrusion of components for the construction industry account for an overwhelming portion of sales of Dubai Aluminium (Dubal) products in the UAE, the company said.

Statistics divulged by Dubal said it sold more than 117,000 tonnes of extrusion billets in the UAE in 2011 worth $290 million and representing 82.34 per cent of the 124,348 tonnes of Dubal product sales in the country. A further 41,000 tonnes of metal produced by Emirates Aluminium Company Limited (Emal) - the greenfield smelter development at Al Taweelah that was fully commissioned at the end of 2010 - was also sold in the UAE during the year, amounting to a total of more than 165,000 tonnes in total from both Dubal and Emal.

Dubal tonnage sold in the UAE market over three years – 2009, 2010 and 2011 – amounted to a total of 436,803 tonnes – equating to 14.6 per cent on average of total sales over the period.

As well as billets, the company produces high-purity aluminium (sows and ingots) and re-melt foundry aluminium (ingots).

 Billets make up approximately 60 per cent of Dubal’s total production each year (61 per cent in 2011). Produced using Airslip technology, all Dubal billets are homogenised and 100 per cent ultrasound-inspected before delivery. A wide range of variants are produced in diverse alloys, with diameters extending from 152 mm to 406 mm; and cut log lengths extending from 405 mm to 7,500 mm. Orders are packaged in steel-strapped bundles on wooden runners, for convenient forklift handling both at dispatch and the end-user’s facility. Inherently superior in quality and intrinsic purity, Dubal billets are widely used in the manufacture of window- and door-frames. Indeed, several landmark buildings incorporate Dubal aluminium - notably Malaysia’s Petronas Towers and Dubai’s Burj Al Arab and Grand Hyatt Hotels.

Dubal billets are also used for transportation, engineering, consumer durables, automotive forging and many other applications - such as industrial profiles for scaffolding tubes.

Further afield within the GCC region, Dubal sold 46,758 tonnes of finished aluminium products to Oman and Saudi Arabia in 2011 - of which some 98.8 per cent was billets. This pushed Dubal’s total 2011 sales within the GCC area to 171,106 tonnes, of which billets accounted for 86.8 per cent (about 148,585 tonnes) - a statistic that reflects the social and infrastructural development projects currently underway in the region.

Moreover, according to published reports, massive infrastructure development is planned across the greater Mena region over the next 10 years, including airports, seaports, utilities (both power and water), housing and public services. Indicative of this trend, the overall volume of Dubal and Emal metal sold within the GCC region is expected to rise to approximately 290,000 tonnes in 2012.

The company’s sow ingots

Saving electricity
Meanwhile, Dubal saved 3,244,572 kWh in a three-month period from July 2011 through its energy conservation programmes. This, together with the 2,263,605 kWh saved in the first three months of implementing the directives (April, May and June 2011), brings the total savings to date to 5,508,177 kWh within six months, a statement said.

Steps for energy conservation identified by the Dubai Supreme Council for Energy (DSCE) are proving effective at Dubal, said Tayeb Al Awadhi, vice president, power and desalination.

“We have fully implemented the directive to set air-conditioning thermostats to 24C during working hours and 27C outside working hours as well as the directive to turn off all non-essential lights after working hours.

“We are also on track to achieve the third directive, namely to change to energy efficient lighting, where our internal target is 78 per cent of the changeover by year-end. Once this is complete, we’ll be in a good position to achieve total energy-savings of 22,317,240 kWh per year by 2013,” Al Awadhi said.