Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), the leading modern aluminium smelter, said it will be able to meet its production targets in 2010 as well as achieve greater operational efficiency and be able to take necessary steps to improve its global competitiveness.

The announcement was made at the first quarterly meeting of the board of directors held yesterday (March 31) at the Gulf Hotel in Bahrain.

The board also approved the purchase of Bahrain-based Breton Investment shares by Alba. The ownership of these shares will be split between Bahrain Mumtalakat Holding Company and Saudi Arabia’s Sabic based upon their respective ownership levels.

“The focus for Alba’s board and management team over the past year has been to apply a completely transparent approach to the business,” said Mahmood Hashim Al Kooheji, chairman of Alba’s board of directors.

“This transparency has allowed us to work with our employees to create a stronger more globally competitive organisation with increased productivity and operational efficiencies,” he added.

“We have achieved this goal and the results are being seen through the achievement of new production milestones with cost reductions that are attained without compromising quality and safety standards. It is an obvious point for the company’s shareholders to look at opportunities to put in place a strategy for the next stage of growth.”

The board also announced the appointment of Isa Al Ansari as chief supply chain officer. He will be reporting directly to the chief executive, and will be a new Bahraini member of the executive team after the organisational restructure. – TradeArabia News Service