EGA extends CelestiAL-R supply deal with BMW Group
DUBAI, November 11, 2024
Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest ‘premium aluminium’ producer in the world, today announced the extension of its CelestiAL-R supply agreement with the BMW Group for the upcoming years.
CelestiAL-R is the world’s first blend of aluminium made with solar power and recycled metal.
The BMW Group uses EGA’s CelestiAL-R to manufacture high-quality aluminium components for its vehicles.
Oliver Zipse, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW AG, visited EGA’s plant in Jebel Ali and Dubai Electricity & Water Authority’s Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park to mark the signing of the new agreement.
EGA has supplied aluminium to the BMW Group since 2013. The BMW Group was the first customer to purchase CelestiAL solar aluminium in 2021. Since the start of 2023, all metal supplied by EGA to BMW Group has been CelestiAL-R.
EGA will continue to supply tens of thousands of tonnes of CelestiAL-R each year. The goal is to significantly further increase the proportion of recycled metal.
Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, Chief Executive Officer of Emirates Global Aluminium, said: “The BMW Group demands the highest quality metal produced with solar power, and this continues to drive our innovation at EGA. Over the coming years, we will further increase the proportion of recycled metal in our CelestiAL-R for the BMW Group while meeting their metal quality specifications. I thank the BMW Group for their trust in EGA.”
Producing consistently high-quality metal from increasing proportions of diverse scrap is technically challenging. EGA conducts detailed chemical composition analysis using optical emission spectrometry at every step of the metal production process, to ensure CelestiAL-R meets exact specifications. The company operates advanced metallurgy laboratories at both Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah.
EGA was the first company in the world to produce aluminium commercially using solar power. Generating the electricity required accounts for some 60 per cent of the global aluminium industry’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Aluminium is infinitely recyclable. Recycling aluminium requires 95 per cent less electricity than producing new metal and generates a fraction of the greenhouse gas emissions.
EGA sources recycled aluminium from UAE providers. EGA is building the UAE’s largest aluminium recycling facility in Al Taweelah. On completion, the recycling plant will have a capacity of 170,000 tonnes of secondary billets per year. First hot metal is expected from EGA’s new recycling plant in 2026. - TradeArabia News Service