Dubai Aluminum raises profile in USA

The combination of a large exhibition stand, a luncheon sponsorship, presentation of the welcome note and a technical paper on methods for achieving extrusion excellence raised the company's profile and entrenched its existing reputation as a world-class, specialist provider of aluminium extrusion billet to customers in 44 countries around the globe.

According to Sultan Al Sabri, Marketing & Sales Manager:

'Europe & North America, who addressed the opening ceremony at ET '08, the four-yearly of Extrusion Technology Exhibition and Conference is regarded as world's most important technical seminar for the aluminium extrusion sector. 'As one of the world's leaders in the production of extrusion billet, Dubal considered ET '08 to be an excellent opportunity for increasing awareness of our company, products and services. The hunch proved correct,' says Al Sabri. 'Existing and potential customers appreciated the opportunity to find out more about Dubal, first-hand'.

He adds that extrusion billets account for approximately 60% of Dubal's annual sales volumes, on average.

Manufactured in various alloys, lengths and diameters, these products are used extensively for architectural purposes (such as window and door frames).

Dubal extrusion billets are also used in industrial applications, wheel forging in the transportation sector, as well as other automotive applications.

Superior quality performance is ensured across Dubal's extrusion billet product range through the use of 'Airslip' hot top casting technology, homogenization and ultrasonic inspection processes in the extrusion billet manufacturing cycle.

In-depth understanding of industry trends, acquired through close partnership-type relationships with customers, enables Dubal to provide valuable support to this important segment of the business.

The balance of Dubal's annual production comprises high-purity aluminium ingots for use in the electronics and aerospace industries (7%); and foundry alloy ingots (34%), which are absorbed primarily by the automotive sector. Aapproximately 12% of Dubal's sales volumes, which totaled 916,000 tonnes in 2007, are shipped to North America.

Although demand for Dubal's aluminium products in North America currently exceeds its capacity to supply, the new EMAL Aluminium Smelter project under construction in Al Taweelah, Abu Dhabi, will increase the company's capacity by 50% once the plant is commissioned in 2010.

'This will bring significant additional volumes of high quality extrusion billet to the market,' says Al Sabri. 'As always, our products will be complemented by Dubal's a value-adding corporate commitment to help our customers improve their respective businesses by providing technical consultancy services that enable them to maximize operating efficiencies, optimize profits and increase productivity'.