The first ingot produced by Alba was poured on May 11, 1971 by the late Amir of Bahrain, Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, some 28 months after the foundation stone was laid.

Alba became the first aluminium smelter in the Middle East and the first non-oil industry established in Bahrain.
The company quickly established itself as a successful smelter, reaching its rated capacity of 120,000 tonnes per year (tpy) by 1973. In the wake of the new smelter, the first downstream aluminium industry - Bahrain Atomisers International - was formed in 1972.
The Board of Directors gave approval in 1979 for the first expansion of the smelter to boost its capacity by 50,000 tpy. This was the same year that the Saudi Public Investment Fund acquired a 20 per cent stake in Alba.
In 1980, the company produced its one millionth tonne of aluminium.
Ten years after pouring the first ingot of aluminium, Shaikh Isa returned to Alba in May 1981 to officially open the company’s new reduction line 2.
This expansion increased plant capacity from 120,000 tpy to 170,000 tpy and contributed towards improving productivity per employee by almost 30 per cent between 1981 and 1985.
A major project to embrace the most advanced production technology and modernise the original two reduction lines began in 1984 with a contract issued to convert a number of test pots.
Other projects included extensive developments in the casthouse. A new purpose-built administration building was also opened.
In 1986, approval for the expansion of reduction Line 3 was given. The project came on stream in 1990 and increased Alba’s capacity by 35,000 tpy to 205,000 tpy.
The extra power for this expansion came from the retrofitting of the 120 MW Power Station 2 with combined cycle technology. This technology generates power from the waste heat of the gas turbines through using steam turbines and added 60 MW to Alba’s overall capacity whilst also increasing efficiency.
In 1989 approval was given for the 235,000 tpy Line 4 project to be built at a cost of $1.45 billion. In 1990, construction on that line began.
Furthermore, the project to modernise lines 1 and 2, following the success of the trials on test pots in Line 1, was also approved in 1990. This modernisation included installing computerised alumina feeding, cell hooding and gas cleaning units and facilitated a much better working environment and an increased amperage to the pots.
In 1992, Alba became one of the largest smelters in the world. Reduction line 4 and the 800 MW combined cycle power station 3 came on stream one month ahead of schedule despite the Gulf crisis in 1991. This new power complex enabled Alba to also supply the National Grid with up to 240 MW during the summer months to meet the increased demand.
In 1993, a year after the modernisation of Line 1 was completed, Line 2 was also fully modernised. Alba’s commitment to becoming one of the most environment-friendly smelters in the world was evident with the company having invested $250 million on environmental protection to virtually eliminate dust and gaseous emissions from all the production areas.
In 1994, Line 3 cells were upgraded and a new fume treatment plant was installed, marking the completion of the modernisation programme. At the same time, Alba’s casthouses achieved the ISO 9002 Quality Management System.
With the commissioning of a further 76-cell expansion of Reduction Line 3 in 1997, Alba increased its capacity to close to half-a-million tonnes. This milestone became a reality in 1998 when the net finished product total for the year reached 500,664 tonnes.
In this same year, a liquid pitch facility at Alba’s marine terminal was commissioned whilst work also began on the building of a 450,000 tpy coke calcining plant. This project, a first for the Middle East, was commissioned in 2001 and will meet all Alba’s calcined coke needs as well as provide a further 200,000 tonnes per annum for export around the world.
The project also includes a 41,000 cu m per day seawater desalination plant and a jetty facility upgrade. The desalination plant utilises the waste heat from the calcining process to supply water to the country’s network and the jetty upgrade enables Alba to receive ships of up to 60,000 tonnes capacity compared to the previous 40,000 tonnes.
A major IT project integrating all aspects of the company’s operations began in 1998 and was fully implemented by 2000. A new state-of-the-art R & D facility was also opened in the purpose-built Technical Services Centre.
Line 5 got the nod in 2001. It marks a historic milestone in Bahrain’s aluminium industry and firmly establishes Alba as both a regional and global leader in its field.