Ducab set to double aluminium production capacity
11 September 2024
Register for MEED's 14-day trial access
The UAE’s Ducab Group has announced that its subsidiary, Ducab Metals Business, will double its output of aluminium products from 55,000 tonnes a year (t/y) to 110,000 t/y. The company’s leadership said the investment in increasing production capacity will help meet rising demand for aluminium products at home and overseas.
Ducab Metals Business will build the new aluminium products facility in Khalifa Economic Zone Abu Dhabi (Kezad), where it already owns a 50,000-square-metre facility. In May, the firm signed a 50-year land lease agreement with Kezad to acquire a 51,015 sq m plot, on which it will build the new plant.
Ducab Metals Business announced doubling its aluminium production capacity on 5 September at a conference in Abu Dhabi titled ‘Ducab Metals Business Expansion Forum: Advancing capacity, driving innovation’, held in partnership with MEED.
Ducab business expansion
Ducab Group, which is equally-owned by the Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD) and Abu Dhabi’s ADQ, has been pursuing an expansion strategy that has taken it to new markets and opened up new industrial sectors, according to Mohammad Almutawa, CEO of Ducab Group.
Ducab is a key stakeholder in the UAE’s Operation 300bn, a blueprint launched by the Ministry of Industry & Advanced Technology (MoIAT) in 2021. It aims to raise the contribution of the country’s industrial, mainly non-oil, sector to the national GDP to AED300bn ($81.7bn) by 2031.
Almutawa said in his opening remarks at the forum that Ducab Group has expanded its business footprint and portfolio since adopting a growth strategy some five years ago. The company has grown its presence to 75 countries and today caters to new industries such as medical and automotive.
Ducab Group’s metal usage stands at 300,000 t/y, while it has registered a year-on-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of 31%, the CEO revealed.
Entities such as the MoIAT, Kezad, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) and Abu Dhabi Investment Office (Adio) have been key partners in its growth journey, Almutawa stated.
Focus on growth
According to the firm's CEO, Mohamed Al-Ahmedi, Ducab Metals Business has “achieved milestones” since its parent entity implemented the growth strategy between the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020.
Apart from launching the project to double aluminium product output capacity, those milestones include expanding Ducab Metals Business’ footprint to 75 countries, acquiring GIC Magnet, a Dubai-based supplier of paper-insulated aluminium strips, enhancing its circular economy credentials, and making an investment in green aluminium in April.
These facts were presented by Al-Ahmedi during a panel discussion held at the conference in Abu Dhabi, moderated by Ed James, head of content and research – MEA at MEED/GlobalData. The other participants in the panel were Mansoor Al-Marar, vice president of Industrial Business Development at Kezad Group, Massimo Falcioni, chief competitiveness officer of Adio, and Abdullah Ghazi Al-Mahri, director of investments and partnerships at MoIAT.
“More than 95% of the aluminium we produce is exported to 75 countries,” Al-Ahmedi said, adding that the “raw material, producers and logistics facilities put together by Kezad, all in one place, facilitates exports”.
The new aluminium products plant is located within a kilometre of EGA's main smelter in Kezad, the primary source of aluminium feedstock, the Ducab Metals Business CEO said. The new facility is expected to be commissioned by the end of this year and start production in 2025.
Exclusive from Meed
-
Levant states wrestle regional pressures
1 July 2025
-
Jordan’s economy holds pace, for now
1 July 2025
-
-
Iraq downstream contract completed
1 July 2025
-
June 2025: Data drives regional projects
30 June 2025
All of this is only 1% of what MEED.com has to offer
Subscribe now and unlock all the 153,671 articles on MEED.com
- All the latest news, data, and market intelligence across MENA at your fingerprints
- First-hand updates and inside information on projects, clients and competitors that matter to you
- 20 years' archive of information, data, and news for you to access at your convenience
- Strategize to succeed and minimise risks with timely analysis of current and future market trends

Related Articles
-
Levant states wrestle regional pressures
1 July 2025
Commentary
John Bambridge
Analysis editorThe Levant countries of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria are all in various degrees of distress, and collectively represent the Israel-Palestine-adjacent geography most severely impacted by that conflict, including in the latest phase initiated by Israel’s attack on Iran. In all three cases, however, recent developments have provided tentative hope for the improvement of their political and economic situations in 2025.
In the case of Lebanon, still reeling from Israel’s invasion and occupation of the country’s southern territories in retaliation for Hezbollah’s missile attacks on northern Israeli cities, the hope has come in the form of the country’s first elected president since 2022, and a new prime minister.
The task before both leaders is to stabilise a deeply fragile political and economic situation while avoiding further degradation to Lebanon’s weakened state capacity. If the country can ride through present circumstances to the upcoming parliamentary elections in May 2026, the possibility could also emerge for a more comprehensive shake-up of its stagnant politics.
In civil war-wracked Syria, the toppling of the Bashar Al-Assad government in December and the swift takeover by forces loyal to Ahmed Al-Sharaa have heralded a political transition – even if it is not the secular one that Syria’s population might have once hoped for.
The new president has already made progress in reaching agreements for the rollback of EU and US sanctions and an influx of foreign investment that his predecessor could only have dreamt of securing. This opens the door to a future of economic recovery for the country.
The reopening and reconstruction of the Syrian economy also has the potential to benefit the entire region, by rebooting trade and providing growth opportunities.
For Jordan, the recent conflict in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories has hit tourism hard, while also pitching the country’s anti-Israel street against its US-allied government. Washington’s threats to cut aid and to raise tariffs on Jordan have added to the political strain on the country, and this has only been staved off by in-person overtures by King Abdullah II to the US government.
The outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Iran has only worsened the economic climate for Jordan, with both Israeli jets and Iranian munitions frequenting Jordanian airspace and providing a constant reminder of how close the country is to being dragged into regional unrest. Yet Jordan has avoided conflict to date, and the country’s GDP growth is expected to rise modestly in 2025 as an increase in exports and projects activity stimulates the economy, despite the wider regional headwinds.
The overall picture for this region is therefore one of tentative recovery from recent shocks, ripe with potential for a better path forward as the Levant rebuilds and works together to overcome the challenges that have so long afflicted the region.
MEED’s July 2025 report on the Levant includes:
> COMMENT: Levant states wrestle regional pressures
JORDAN
> ECONOMY: Jordan economy nears inflection point
> GAS: Jordan pushes ahead with gas plans
> POWER & WATER: Record-breaking year for Jordan’s water sector
> CONSTRUCTION: PPP schemes to drive Jordan construction
> DATABANK: Jordan’s economy holds pace, for nowLEBANON
> ECONOMY: Lebanon’s outlook remains fraughtSYRIA
> RECONSTRUCTION: Who will fund Syria’s $1tn rebuild?To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14122966/main.gif -
Jordan’s economy holds pace, for now
1 July 2025
MEED’s July 2025 report on the Levant includes:
> COMMENT: Levant states wrestle regional pressures
JORDAN
> ECONOMY: Jordan economy nears inflection point
> GAS: Jordan pushes ahead with gas plans
> POWER & WATER: Record-breaking year for Jordan’s water sector
> CONSTRUCTION: PPP schemes to drive Jordan construction
> DATABANK: Jordan’s economy holds pace, for nowLEBANON
> ECONOMY: Lebanon’s outlook remains fraughtSYRIA
> RECONSTRUCTION: Who will fund Syria’s $1tn rebuild?To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14177596/main.gif -
NCP seeks firms for Mecca mixed-use development PPP
1 July 2025
Saudi Arabia’s National Centre for Privatisation & PPP (NCP), in collaboration with the Holy Makkah Municipality and the Ministry of Municipalities & Housing, has issued an expression of interest (EoI) and request for qualification notice for the development of a mixed-use project along Prince Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Road in Mecca.
The EoI notice was issued on 26 June, with a submission deadline of 27 July.
The development includes a shopping mall, a 200-bed long-term care facility and a 100-bed multi-speciality hospital.
According to an official notice, the project will be located on a government-owned site spanning about 220,000 square metres (sq m) and will offer direct access to the Holy Mosque while bypassing the congestion of Mecca’s city centre.
The public-private partnership (PPP) project will be delivered using a build, own, operate, transfer contract with a 30-year term. Upon completion of the contract term, the project will be transferred to the Holy Makkah Municipality.
This announcement follows the launch of the EoI notice for the development of the King Fahd suburb boulevard project in Dammam.
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Municipalities & Housing issued the notice in collaboration with Ashraq Development Company and the NCP.
The project features a 4 kilometre (km) mixed-use zone along a central boulevard, forming part of a larger 7.3km corridor.
The project will be developed in two phases and span about 1 million sq m.
Saudi PPP market
The value of PPP contracts in Saudi Arabia has risen sharply over the past two years as the government seeks to develop projects through the private sector and diversify funding sources.
According to MEED Projects data, in 2023, the value of PPP concession contracts hit an all-time high of $28.2bn, equivalent to more than 23% of the total value of all project contracts awarded that year. Although that figure fell to 18.3% last year, it was still far higher than the historical average in the kingdom.
The figures are even starker when taking only government spending into account. In 2023, the value of signed PPP contracts totalled more than a third of the value of government or government-related projects awarded in 2023 and more than a quarter last year. This is compared to the average of 15.6% between 2019 and 2022, and just 3.5% recorded in 2018.
Government contracts include awards made by ministries, municipalities and royal commissions, in addition to state-funded key project clients such as Saudi Water Authority, the National Housing Company and Jeddah Airports Company. Public Investment Fund (PIF) subsidiaries such as Neom, the National Water Company and Rua Al-Madinah are also included.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14176701/main.jpg -
Iraq downstream contract completed
1 July 2025
Turkiye’s Tekfen has completed a contract as part of the Basra refinery upgrade project, according to industry sources.
The contract was worth $25m and the scope included upgrading civil structures and underground facilities.
The contract is part of the wider Basra refinery upgrade project, which is worth several billion dollars.
Its scope includes installing new facilities, including a vacuum distillation unit and a diesel desulphurisation unit, on land adjacent to the existing Basra refinery.
The biggest package is focused on upgrading the project’s fluid catalyst cracking (FCC) unit.
Iraq’s state-owned South Refineries Company (SRC) sent Japan-based JGC a notice of the main contract award for the Basra refinery upgrade project’s FCC package in August 2020.
The contract awarded to JGC, which uses the engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning model, was worth $3.78bn.
The project site is located about 12 kilometres east of Iraq’s southern city of Basra.
https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14174441/main.jpg -
June 2025: Data drives regional projects
30 June 2025
Click here to download the PDF
Includes: Top 10 Global Contractors | Brent Spot Price | Construction output
To see previous issues of MEED Business Review, please click herehttps://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14171168/main.gif