Two aluminium plants in the region – one in Saudi Arabia and the other in Qatar – received the go-ahead last month.

The Saudi government has approved the construction of a SR14.086 billion ($3.76 billion) aluminium smelter with an annual capacity of 623,000 tonnes.
The energy-intensive aluminium industry is a key part of efforts by some GCC countries to diversify economies that rely heavily on oil exports, said a senior industry ministry official.
The plant, which will belong to state mining firm Maaden, will be located in the Ras Al Zour industrial zone in eastern Saudi Arabia and is expected to produce 200,000 tonnes of alumina. Output from the plant will be exported after 2008.
Meanwhile, Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Hydro Aluminium have signed an agreement to form a joint venture (JV) for the development, construction and operation of the Qatalum aluminium plant in Qatar.
The agreement marks an important step forward to build one of the world’s largest and most competitive primary aluminium plants, said a spokesman for the project.
The project, which involves the construction and operation of the primary aluminium plant, consisting of a smelter, with an initial annual capacity of 585,000 tonnes of primary aluminium, will use Qatar’s abundant natural gas as feedstock, a cast house and carbon plant as well as a dedicated 1,350 MW gas power plant. It will be located in the Mesaieed Industrial City and will be the largest initial phase greenfield aluminium smelter ever built.
The plant is scheduled to start production in the last quarter of 2009. The energy intensive smelter is expected to reach full production capacity by mid 2010, increasing to approximately 1.4 million tonnes per year in the second phase of the project.