Emal to raise $700m from agencies

09 Dec 2009
Emirates Aluminium (Emal), which has plans to become the world's biggest single aluminium smelter, expects to raise $700 million (Dh2.5 billion) from credit agencies by next month, the finance chief said.So far there has been no difficulties in raising funds for the project's phase two, said CFO Bill Campbell."We are raising $700m from Export Credit Agencies, which is in a cash-closing position, and is expected to close next month," he said.Emal is a 50-50 joint venture between Dubai Aluminium Company Limited (Dubal) and Mubadala Development Company (Mubadala), Abu Dhabi's investment vehicle. He also said the company would raise $700m amortising bond in March/April, with an average life of 7.5 years."The remaining $600m will be raised from shareholders Mubadala or Dubal or money earned or savings," he added.Emal will start its first exports shipment in January, Campbell said.The $5.7bn project, located at Al Taweelah in Abu Dhabi, will have a full production capacity of 700,000 metric tonnes of aluminium per year from the first phase, expected to be reached by December 2010. Phase one is expected to break even in June 2011, Campbell said, adding that "price assesment is well below prices today".