Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), a leading industrial company in the UAE, said Walid Al Attar, Chief Commercial Officer and architect of the company’s ‘premium aluminium’ marketing strategy, is to step down after 37 years of service.

Al Attar will continue to provide his expertise to EGA as a Senior Advisor to CEO Abdulnasser Bin Kalban.

Adel Abubakar, Chief Marketing Officer since February this year, will now report directly to EGA’s CEO. Abubakar has worked for the company since 2006, including spending almost a decade in the US building EGA’s North American business. Abubakar will also assume responsibility for EGA’s Casthouses.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, CEO of EGA, said: “Walid Al Attar is a titan of our company and industry, and I thank him for his contributions to EGA over almost four decades of service. Walid joined Dubai Aluminium as a very young man, and rose to the top of our company through ability and drive. He is a role model I advise all young UAE nationals joining EGA to emulate.”

Walid Al Attar said: “I feel a great sense of pride at everything we have achieved at EGA, starting as a small regional smelter and building a national industrial champion whose metal makes modern life possible all around the world. I look forward to supporting EGA as it continues to grow, and watching those I have helped develop take the company to new heights.”

Al Attar joined Dubai Aluminium in 1984 as a trainee, working first in the shipping department. He joined Marketing & Sales in 1994, playing a key role in EGA’s transition from selling commodity metal to traders to building direct relationships with customer making products using the metal. EGA’s focus on ‘premium aluminium’, made to customer specifications, makes EGA a world leader in maximising the value of its primary aluminium production.

Al Attar was appointed Chief Marketing Officer when EGA was formed through the merger of Dubai Aluminium and Emirates Aluminium in 2014. In 2020 he took the role of Chief Commercial Officer, responsible for Marketing & Sales & Supply Chain.

Earlier, Al Attar was named ‘World’s Top Aluminium Executive 2020-2021’ at an annual global industry summit in Chicago, in recognition of his contributions to the aluminium industry.