Sohar Aluminium
Smelting giant with community roots
As the largest non-hydrocarbon industrial venture in the Sultanate, Sohar Aluminium (SA) is a positive force for good in the Batinah North region, contributing not only to local employment, small business development and downstream investment, but also to the wellbeing of host communities.
Passion for Excellence, Be the Best • Sohar Aluminium has been created to ensure efficiency, environmental protection and the utmost safety of its workforce. • Produces 375,000 tonnes of high quality aluminium per year. • Proud to have achieved 71% Omanisation and an Internationally Recognised Training Centre. • Strong believer in supporting and promoting local SMEs and downstream businesses. • Committed partner of the local community and execute a variety of CSR projects. PO Box 80, PC 327, Sohar Industrial Estate, Sultanate of Oman Tel: +968 26863000, Fax: +968 26863001, E-mail: info@sohar-aluminium.com www.sohar-aluminium.com
Few mega-projects outside of Oman’s mainstay hydrocarbon sector make a contribution to the national economy as significant as that of Sohar Aluminium. Fewer still manage to successfully leverage their investments and operations to make a profound impact on the local community. Indeed, the Sultanate’s only aluminium smelter continues to be an unsurpassed success story in the way its presence in Sohar unlocks a wealth of benefits – economic, social and environmental – to the wider Batinah North and South regions. Established in 2004, Sohar Aluminium (SA) brings together three prominent entities in a mutually beneficial strategic partnership that led to the development of the Gulf region’s first green-field aluminium smelter in a quarter of a decade. Participating in the $2.4 billion venture are Oman Oil Company (40 per cent), Abu Dhabi National Energy Company PJSC – TAQA (a
subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority) (40 per cent) and Rio Tinto Alcan, a global leader in aluminium. Commercial operations began in June 2008, ushering a new era in non-hydrocarbon based heavy industry in Oman that has since inspired investments in other metals based mega projects in the Sultanate. SA produces 375,000 tonnes of primary aluminium per year in the form of hot metal, ingots and sows from its worldscale 1.2 km potline consisting of 360 pots using state-ofthe-art Aluminium Pechiney technology (AP36). The smelter itself is powered by a 1,000 MW combined-cycle captive power generation facility (CCPP) designed and built by Alstom and owned by Sohar Aluminium. Raw material for the
plant, chiefly alumina sourced from overseas markets, is shipped in via a dedicated berth at SOHAR Port. Two alumina carriers have been deployed to bring in the feedstock, which is trucked to the smelter located 12 kilometres inland. Nearly five years on, SA continues to exemplify what large-scale industrial projects can – and indeed should – achieve for the national and local economy. In addition to creating in excess of 1,000 direct jobs, its operations have
contributed to the proliferation of numerous small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that in turn support an estimated 5,000 indirect jobs. Omanisation within the company is on target to reach around 85 per cent by 2015, an impressive feat given the highly complex and technical
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