A war gaming exercise held by US officials last year examined how the country’s aluminum supply chain would fare in the event of a large global conflict. High-purity aluminum, the kind used to make fighter jets and other defense equipment, “emerged as a critical vulnerability,” according to Bloomberg, noting that almost 90% of that metal comes from the UAE.
Aluminum plants in Bahrain and the UAE have been hit in Iranian strikes this year, causing prices to surge. Emirates Global Aluminum has restarted its plant but is not expected to return to full capacity until the end of the year.
EGA is building capacity in the US and is the majority owner of a $4 billion Oklahoma aluminum smelter project, which is due to start production by the end of the decade. The facility, which would be the first of its kind built in the US since 1980, could help ease Washington’s concerns about access to the metal, and gives EGA a break from tariffs on its exports to the US.
