EGA buys majority stake in US aluminium recycler

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the biggest non-oil industrial company in the UAE, has acquired an 80 percent stake in US-based aluminium recycling company Spectro Alloys Corporation.

The owner-managers of Spectro will hold 20 percent.

The funding will be in line with EGA’s green finance framework, launched in June, to support decarbonisation projects and enable the UAE to transition to a low-carbon economy.

The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

The acquisition will enable EGA to have production facilities on four continents, which includes bauxite mining to aluminium recycling.

Spectro Alloys is a secondary foundry alloy maker in the US, producing 110,000 tonnes of aluminium ingots a year. The company is implementing an expansion plan at its Rosemount site in Minnesota, adding 55,000 tonnes per year of production capacity. The expansion is expected to be completed in 2025.

Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, CEO of EGA, said that developing a global recycling business is a key strategic priority for the company.

“We are taking rapid and decisive action, now with recycling operations in both the US and Europe and our greenfield plant in the UAE progressing well,” he said.

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The US is one of EGA’s largest global markets, with the company selling 550,000 tonnes of primary aluminium in the country last year.

Demand for recycled aluminium in the US is forecast to reach 7.6 million tonnes annually by 2033, according to CRU, an independent business intelligence organisation.

In May, EGA acquired the European specialty foundry Leichtmetall Aluminium.

Last month, the company said that net profit fell 6 percent to AED1.84 billion ($500 million) in the first half of 2024 from AED1.96 billion a year ago, driven by lower product prices.