Right to left: Pal Vigeland, Head of Casthouse, Khalid Al Moftah, Logistics Manager, Yahya Rashdan, Marketing Manager, Qatalum CEO, Jan Arve Haugan, Ibrahim Fakhri, Public Relations Manager and Khalifa Al Khuzaei from the Communications department
The Fair, now in its eighth edition, is the world's most important platform for the aluminium industry and its application fields. The theme for this year’s event is ‘Aluminium – Material of the Future’. More than 18,000 trade visitors from around the world attended.
Qatalum shared a stand with one of its owners, Hydro, alongside more than 900 other exhibitors, including aluminium producers, aluminium processors, aluminium technology and equipment providers and suppliers, exhibiting under the motto 'Between Innovation and Environment'. Both companies were highlighting their environmental soundness, and marketing and other informative material was available for visitors to the stand interested in learning more. Qatalum CEO Jan Arve Haugan was also present at the exhibition.
Svein Richard Brandtzaeg, Hydro CEO, second from left with Qatalum's CEO on his right at the joint stand
A view of Qatalum's stand area
The long-scheduled participation comes on the heels of Qatalum's announcement that it is preparing for an imminent restart of primary aluminium production, following a power outage in early August this year.
Qatalum CEO Haugan said, "Qatalum is now ready to re-start production and will soon regain our position, leading the way in operational excellence, high-quality aluminium products and environmental performance. Aluminium 2010 provides a perfect forum for us to communicate with industry peers, strengthen our relationship with existing and new customers, as well as forge new industry relationships."
With a first phase production capacity of 585,000 tonnes per annum of primary aluminium, Qatalum will provide significant support for GCC aluminium production. At full operation, the facility is expected to enhance the national GDP by approximately USD 1.5 billion a year and lead to significant downstream diversification for the country. It is also an aluminium smelter with a low environmental impact, due in part to the excellent recyclability of aluminium, and in part to its implementation of Hydro's leading-edge, low environmental impact technology.
Aluminium 2010 is characterized as one of the most highly prioritized events for the aluminium industry. It provides an overview of the entire aluminium industry and serves as the international platform for suppliers of raw material, semi-finished and finished products, surface treatments and producers of machinery, plant and equipment for aluminium processing and manufacturing, as well as the light-metals trade, consultancy and expert opinions.
