Khaberni - Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), the largest aluminium producer in the Middle East, has declared a force majeure and temporarily suspended part of its supplies, according to "Bloomberg" agency citing documents.
The agency's report, quoting internal documents, stated: "Emirates Global Aluminium, the largest metal producer in the Middle East, has activated force majeure clauses to temporarily suspend at least some supplies after one of its aluminium smelters was disrupted," following damage to the facility from an Iranian attack in early April.
Preliminary estimates indicate that the full restoration of primary aluminium production could take up to 12 months, as it requires the repair of the damaged infrastructure and the gradual restart of reduction cells, while the alumina refinery and recycling plant might resume some operations earlier according to damage assessments.
According to sources at "Bloomberg", the smelter lost electricity due to the attack, leading to an uncontrolled shutdown of the smelting units and the hardening of the metal inside the smelting chambers, causing significant production damage.
This occurred after the United States and Israel began on February 28 to strike targets in Iranian territory, including Tehran, resulting in destruction and civilian casualties, and Iran launched retaliatory strikes on Israeli territory, as well as on military and industrial facilities in the Middle East.
On the night of April 8, U.S. President Donald Trump announced an agreement with Iran for a two-week ceasefire. Later, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi announced the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for about 20% of the global supply of oil, oil products, and liquefied natural gas.
The Pakistani capital Islamabad is currently hosting negotiations between an Iranian delegation led by the Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf and a U.S. delegation headed by Vice President JD Vance to reach a permanent settlement.
