EGA moves more aluminium exports to the UAE's east coast under a new Gulftainer agreement to bypass Hormuz

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) is shifting more of its exports to the UAE's east coast, clear of Hormuz. A new agreement with Gulftainer lets EGA ship up to 250k tons of aluminium in the first year and as much as 300k tons in the second, the company said in a statement. Volumes could grow after that, with Gulftainer expanding port capacity to keep pace.

Why this matters: Alternative routes hedge the shipping risk only, not the production side. EGA previously said that restoring pre-incident shipment levels still depends on the strait’s reopening, while developing other corridors would reduce its reliance over time.

Other UAE exporters are heading east too: AD Ports and Borouge agreed in May to explore an alternative petrochemicals export hub on the UAE’s east coast. In July, Gulftainer announced a USD 2 bn investment across Khor Fakkan and its inland network. The company could absorb up to 90% of the UAE's container demand if the strait is blocked again, Gulftainer CEO Farid Belbouab said at the time.

BACKGROUND- The agreement caps months of workarounds for EGA. The company halted outbound UAE shipments in March after Iranian strikes knocked out production at its Al Taweelah smelter. The company then planned to truck aluminum to Sohar for export and bring alumina feedstock back the same route. EGA’s aluminum sales fell 32% in 1H to 939k tons amid production disruption and logistics constraints, with the firm having since found alternative routes. The smelter is a quarter of the way back: EGA has restarted 315 of Al Taweelah’s c.1.3k reduction cells as of late August, up from 89 in early July, and is targeting full production in 1Q 2027. Its alumina refinery is running at about half capacity.