It’s been several months since Aluminium Bahrain’s (Alba) Line 5 smelter came into full operation, and all the signs are that it is doing well.

“In projects such as this you expect teething troubles, but it’s doing exceptionally well compared to the projects we’ve had before,” said Mahmood M Daylami, deputy chief executive for plant operations.
“It’s stable; all the production parameters have been performing well – purity, stability, productivity, work routine. We have not had any hiccups. The cast house, carbon plant and the logistics are doing well.
“Equipment was also installed for a new high-premium product called properzi.”
The company was able to come to this happy pass because of some conscientious efforts it made. As Daylami explained, management from Day 1 did not differentiate between contractors, but created a team that interacted on a daily basis. It did not mean everything went 100 per cent to plan. The prevailing philosophy was that it was important how you reacted to the hitches that might occur. That was how co-operation and work progress were measured.
Most contractors worked to the specified timetable and executed what was expected of them. “There were a few we were grossly disappointed with,” said Daylami. “I don’t want to mention names. We’ll have second thoughts about having them in future projects.”
What was unique about Potline 5 was the new benchmarks it set. How did it go about doing that? Daylami again explains: “First, you should know what you want and what the benchmark is for that field in order to beat it. In Alba we managed to set new standards. For example, the technology we implemented allowed us 288 cells. We challenged that, saying why can’t we have more? We built 336 cells and now this is the new standard for the world.
“Another example. Usually the start-up standard is two potlines a day. We challenged that too and asked why not do four or more per day? We did just that and we succeeded in slashing the start-up period by a great deal. Instead of doing it in 180 days we finished in 77 without a single accident.
“Our safety has also been our benchmark. Our construction provided us another benchmark. Our cost of construction is now a benchmark – less than $3,000 per tonne.”
So how did Alba accomplish these splendid standards? It was not merely a matter of good planning, says Daylami. It had also a lot to do with having an organisation to go along with the planning and the right people doing the right thing, while at the same time creating a proper environment, the support system and the leadership.
“Above all, it is the conviction among the people actually doing the job that it can be done and that you should not let minor obstacles and setbacks deter you but rather have something done about them.”
Some of the situations took on the proportions of great challenges. For instance, the casthouse was not ready when Line 5 was started although it was supposed to have been commissioned four months earlier. Staff had to improvise at casting the metal to a marketable product. “We had to take a few exceptional measures in the old casthouse to produce the additional liquid metal while construction of the new casthouse was still going on,” Daylami recalled.  The response ensured that the start-up did not suffer.
The power station was also not completed and in fact will be commissioned this month (October) as scheduled. Some of the old facilities were utilised temporarily to facilitate the starting of the potline. “Despite some of the installations not being ready, the main work did not suffer much,” said Daylanmi. “The facilities we had and the improvisations we resorted to may not be within the resources of all smelters.   That’s why 77 days will be unique and difficult to beat…Every project, whether a smelter or anything else, has its own problems and its own unique solutions. The solutions we introduced will not work elsewhere. The question is how do you take advantage of your situation so as not to have setbacks? If there are setbacks you do something about them. You need the right people and the mental paradigm to accomplish solutions.”
At the worker level, there were two levels of preparation – one before construction and one specific to the construction. “Before construction we had a lot of employees with long experience in operational and management areas, so the daily operational and supervisory issues were taken into account. New workers recruited for the potline were trained so that when they joined they were part of a force that included old and new staff. Alba, in partnership with the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, initiated the training of unemployed Bahrainis, sharing the training cost and paying their salaries. Bechtel provided the actual training. The trained force was quickly employed by the contractors who were working on Potline 5. The initiative proved to be a great success. Some of the trainees formed their own maintenance companies. A total of 17,800 worked on Potline 5 of which 7,500 were on duty at its peak.
Alba’s annual capacity has risen to 840,000 tonnes, the newest potline contributing 320,000 tonnes. The company produces billets, slabs, wheel alloys, ingots and liquid metal. The main products added with the Potline 5 expansion were billets and wheel alloys. 
 The world’s production of primary metal is 31 million tonnes per year (tpy) and annual demand is rising by 4 per cent. With new smelters planned for the Gulf region, it will become a major centre of aluminium production. “It is expected that in the next 5 to 7 years, the total production in this region will expand to 5 million tpy against 1.5 million tpy now,” estimates Daylami. “Therefore, the competition that people worry about from the Gulf smelters is not really an issue, it is actually healthy,” he says.
“People see it in negative terms, but there will be a lot of co-operation and research & development, and the different smelters can share in that. After all, aluminium is an international commodity and growth in demand requires additional production. Competition is healthy and it  is survival of the fittest.”
Being a commodity enjoying international demand, Alba has to tread a cautious path to satisfy demand from Bahrain’s own downstream aluminium industry.
Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mills Company (Garmco), its biggest customer in the kingdom, will not receive any additional supplies despite the commissioning of Potline 5.  A Garmco official said the new line did not include the kind of products Garmco needed and also expressed concern that part of the existing facilities to cast rolling slab would be shut down when Line 6 is carried out, thereby actually reducing capacity for his company.
Commenting on the issue, Daylami said Alba’s production mix was the result of market studies. “I’d like to emphasise that the main standards of Alba were the same as those of Garmco. Alba executives follow the directives of the board.
“Having said that, over the years, at least in the last three, Alba’s supply to Garmco increased from 100,000 tpy in 2003 to 120,000 tpy in 2004 and 148,000 tpy in 2005. It’s true that the addition of Potline 5 will bring no increase to Garmco. 
“There is no clear decision as yet on reducing the existing rolling slab when Line 6 is executed. We have to follow the decision of the board as to what product mix suits our strategic planning.”
Daylami said local industries could expect to receive 300,000 tonnes annually, but as the aluminium was a core industry and the main non-oil industry in Bahrain, the downstream sector had to “stand on its own feet” and not expect to be subsidised. Whether they could be competitive depended on how they conducted themselves, and he thought most would be successful. “The ideal for the downstream is to add value and make a difference. There’s no point in being around if they don’t add value. I’m 100 per cent sure most of them will add a lot of value.”