Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), one of the Middle East's biggest producers, said on Tuesday it expected to exceed its projected 2004 production by two percent to reach 533,000 tonnes. Alba, which produced 527,000 tonnes last year, sells around 65 percent of its products to customers in Gulf Arab states and the rest goes mainly to the Far East and south-east Asia.
"We originally budgeted 522,000 tonnes this year, but we would probably produce around 533,000 tonnes, which is good," Chief Executive Bruce Hall told reporters.
Alba is building potline-5 which is expected to come on stream by March 2005 and will bring its total capacity to 830,000 tonnes per year.
Referring to market conditions, Hall said the new unit would come online at a very good time in terms of revenue.
Alba is 77 percent owned by Bahrain's government, 20 percent by Saudi Arabia and three percent by German group Breton Investments.
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