Dubal’s OSE acquisition a major boost for Dubai

Dubal Holding’s decision to acquire a majority stake in Dubai-based aluminium extrusion company OSE Industries is a major vote of confidence in the UAE economy, according to Dubai Industrial City.

The region’s largest manufacturing and logistics hub, home to OSE Industries, lauded the deal as a reflection of the growth opportunities and underlying strength in Dubai’s industrial sector.

OSE Industries began manufacturing operations in 2015 and now exports MPE, precision tubing and industrial piping across the Middle East and North Africa, Asia, Europe and the US. Its clients include a well-known US electric carmaker, as well as major players in the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) sector.

Dubal Holding’s acting chief executive officer, Ahmad Bin Fahad, said: “We have strong faith in the fundamentals of Dubai’s economy and continue to actively explore investment opportunities in key growth sectors to create value and downstream opportunities. Our agreement with OSE Industries underscores our resolute confidence in the emirate’s industrial ecosystem. I would also like to commend Dubai Industrial City’s role in creating a vibrant ecosystem with infrastructure and an enabling environment to help companies scale and grow.”

OSE President and Chairman, Othman Sharif, added: “As the shift to electric vehicles in Europe and the US steps up a gear, our business is uniquely positioned to capitalise on this evolution in the automotive market and the move towards a cleaner, greener future. The UAE is a regional leader in sustainability, and we are proud to be a family-run, Dubai-based company that has grown organically, exporting high-quality products to markets all around the world.”

For his part, Saud Abu Al-Shawareb, Managing Director of Dubai Industrial City, said: “This deal is a major boost for Dubai’s industrial sector. It will enhance the emirate’s position as a hub for manufacturing and logistics in line with the vision of our leaders for a diversified, sustainable economy. As a strategic driver and enabler of the Dubai Industrial Strategy 2030, we work hard alongside our 750 business partners to position Dubai as a global platform for knowledge and innovation-based industries with a focus on priority sub-sectors including aluminium and fabrication metals.”

Situated near Jebel Ali Port and Al Maktoum International Airport, OSE Industries’ strategic location in Dubai Industrial City affords the business trade access to two-thirds of the global population in eight hours. This has enabled it to expand quickly as electric vehicles become more popular and the HVAC sector shifts its focus to aluminium rolled tubes.

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), Mubadala and Dubal Holding recently completed a major milestone with the first firing of the Siemens Energy H-class gas turbine at a new Dhs1 billion state-of-the-art power plant at EGA’s Jebel Ali site. The Siemens Energy H-class gas turbine, a leading technology in efficient power generation, is the heart of the new power plant. Over the coming months, other facilities of the plant will be completed and integrated to achieve a generation capacity of over 600 megawatts of electricity. Full completion of the project is expected in the summer.

The new power block at EGA is being developed by JA Power & Water Co, a joint venture formed by Mubadala and Dubal Holding. EGA intends to buy power from the joint venture for 25 years following commissioning. Use of the H-class gas turbine will further improve the efficiency of power generation at EGA, saving natural resources and reducing costs and environmental emissions.

The installation of an H-class turbine aligns with the UAE Energy Strategy 2050, which aims to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint of power generation by 70 per cent and to increase energy efficiency by 40 per cent. The new power block is expected to lower greenhouse gas emissions from EGA’s power-generation and aluminium-smelting operations at Jebel Ali by some 10 per cent, the equivalent of planting more than 17 million trees each year. NOx emissions are expected to decrease by as much as 58 per cent. NOx is also emitted by motor vehicles and is amongst a group of emissions targeted for reductions under ‘UAE Vision 2021’ to improve local air quality. The NOx emissions reductions expected as a result of the new power block are equivalent to removing more than 850,000 cars from the road. The project is the first time a Siemens Energy H-class gas turbine has been deployed in the global aluminium industry.

Dubal Holding, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Investment Corporation of Dubai, is focused on expanding its industrial footprint and stimulating growth in the downstream value chain.