Abu Dhabi, UAE — Emirates Global Aluminum, the largest ‘premium aluminum’ producer in the world, today announced the progression of plans to develop the first new primary aluminum production plant in the United States of America since 1980.
The plant is expected to have a production capacity of 600 thousand tons of primary aluminum per year, nearly doubling the United States’ production of an essential material for modern life and for national security. Some 85 per cent of the aluminum needs of American industries, from automotive to aviation and construction, are currently met by imports.
Construction of EGA’s American primary aluminum plant is expected to begin after a feasibility study and by the end of 2026, with first hot metal by the end of the decade. EGA is expecting to invest around $4 billion to develop the project.
The primary aluminum production plant will be located in Oklahoma, subject to the finalization of a competitive long-term power supply for the plant and State and local investment incentives and tax credit arrangements. EGA is in advanced negotiations with Public Service Company of Oklahoma (PSO) and the Oklahoma government.
EGA has already signed an exclusive land option agreement for a site in the industrial park at Tulsa Port of Inola, located in Inola, Oklahoma. Near Tulsa, Oklahoma, the Tulsa Port of Inola is located on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (M-KARNS), which is connected to the Mississippi River system and provides for efficient bulk freight movement.
Kevin Stitt, Governor of the State of Oklahoma, said, “We want more goods to be manufactured in Oklahoma and EGA is the perfect partner. My administration has worked closely with the company for over a year to clear the way for the first new primary aluminum production plant in the United States for more than four decades right here in our great state. EGA’s new plant will be the heart of a broader hub for strategic industry in Oklahoma, creating jobs and opportunity for Oklahomans as well as enhancing economic resilience and national security for all Americans.”
Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, said, “The United States has been an important market for EGA for several decades, and we know there is strong demand for our high-quality metal ‘made in America’. EGA has the skills, technology and capital to start rebuilding this great American industry, and in Oklahoma I am confident we will secure the right conditions to do so. This is an important moment for EGA, and for the economic relationship between the United States and the United Arab Emirates.”
The project is expected to create up to 4,000 local construction jobs at peak. In operation, the aluminum facility is expected to create up to 1,000 direct, permanent local jobs on site.
In addition, the new primary aluminum production plant is expected to spur the development of a new local aluminum-focused industrial hub, with significant further employment and economic opportunities in the upstream supply chain and in new downstream aluminum manufacturing.
EGA is a global leader in aluminum production technology, which the company has developed for more than 35 years. EGA technology will be used to build the new plant.
The United States is already one of EGA’s largest single country markets in the world, with aluminum fabricators using EGA metal across the country. EGA America, the company’s US distributor, is headquartered in St Louis, Missouri.
