EGA seeks equity partner for US aluminium smelter

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) is reportedly seeking an investment partner for its aluminium recycling plant in the US.

The company is in talks with potential investors, with initial discussions already underway with Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation for a smelter in Oklahoma, Bloomberg reported, citing unidentified sources.

No details were disclosed on the financing structure or the amount involved.

EGA, co-owned by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment Company and Investment Corporation of Dubai, has hired Evercore Inc. as financial adviser, the news agency said.

The EGA plant is expected to require $5 billion to $6 billion of capital investment and produce about 750,000 tonnes of primary aluminium a year, the report said, quoting an investor document.

The cost of the smelter, the first to be built in the US since 1980, was estimated at $4 billion in May 2025, according to the UAE state-run Wam news agency.

EGA has already signed an option for a site in an industrial park at Tulsa Port of Inola, which is connected to the Mississippi River and provides for bulk freight movement.

The project is expected to create up to 4,000 local construction jobs, while the aluminium facility is likely to generate up to 1,000 direct local jobs on site, the Wam report said.

In October EGA started the second phase of expansion of its aluminium recycling plant in the US, which is expected to be completed in 2027.

EGA announced that construction will begin next year on an anode manufacturing plant in Khalifa Economic Zone Abu Dhabi (Kezad), with production scheduled to begin in early 2028.

The $300 million plant is being developed jointly with Sunstone, a Chinese pre-baked anode producer.

• Taqa and Dubal buy EGA energy assets for nearly $2bn
• EGA ‘considering bid for Brazil’s CBA’
• EGA said to be in talks for potential IPO

The new facility will have an annual capacity of 300,000 tonnes of anodes and will replace most of EGA’s current anode imports, according to a company statement.

EGA will own a 45 percent stake in the joint venture, while Sunstone will own the remaining 55 percent. The $300 million investment will be split in proportion to each entity’s shareholding.

Anodes are required in the smelting of aluminium. EGA produces 1.35 million tonnes of anodes annually at its Jebel Ali and Al Taweelah plants.

Sunstone will build the plant while EGA will be the financial investor and off-taker, the statement said.