LONDON, March 17 - Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has decided to channel its alumina feedstock and finished aluminium shipments via the Port of Sohar in Oman in the coming days, according to three people briefed on the plans. The change in logistics comes as the Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed amid the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, now in its third week, disrupting usual Gulf export routes.
Sources with direct knowledge of the arrangements said EGA would bring alumina into Sohar and then move that raw material by truck to its smelting operations in either Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Those same sources also reported the company intends to begin trucking the aluminium it produces to Sohar for export beginning this week. The sources said they did not have information on the volumes of alumina that EGA would import nor the quantity of metal it planned to ship from Sohar.
Industry-wide, several companies have been redirecting inbound cargo originally bound for Gulf ports located inside the Strait of Hormuz to facilities outside the strait, including Sohar and Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates, with overland trucking used to reach final destinations. The Gulf region is home to approximately seven million metric tons of primary aluminium production, which represents about 9% of global supply, and nearly 80% of that output is exported, chiefly to the United States and Europe. Those shipments supply downstream sectors such as automotive manufacturing, construction and packaging.
Market reactions have been tangible: aluminium prices surged to a four-year high of $3,546.50 per metric ton last week, a rise of about 12% since the conflict began, reflecting investor and industry concern over potential broader shortages if export channels remain disrupted.
When asked to comment on the reported logistical changes, Simon Buerk, senior vice president corporate affairs at EGA, said: "We are not going to give a running commentary on how we are managing the current situation, but will say that the points you gave include some inaccuracies." He declined to provide further detail.
Other aluminium producers in the Gulf are reportedly evaluating similar measures. Aluminium Bahrain (Alba), which produces roughly 1.6 million metric tons of aluminium a year, has been identified by two sources as a potential user of Sohar for exports and is also exploring Jeddah on Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast as an alternative. Alba did not respond to a request for comment.
The Port of Sohar is already used by an Omani smelter, Sohar Aluminium, to receive raw materials and export aluminium products. Sources said there is no public record of the port having been directly attacked since it was developed more than two decades ago. They added that drones which crashed in Sohar province last week did not damage the port.
The shift toward overland trucking and the use of ports outside the Strait of Hormuz underscores how regional security developments are affecting logistics for key commodity producers. For companies like EGA and Alba, the immediate priority appears to be maintaining export channels and feedstock supply while managing operational limitations and regional risk. The scale of the rerouting, and whether these measures will suffice to stabilize global supply concerns, remain unclear based on the available reporting.
Additional context provided in reporting: EGA's annual production is around 2.7 million metric tons of primary aluminium. The Gulf's cumulative production of around seven million metric tons represents roughly 9% of global supply, with nearly 80% of that output destined for export markets in the United States and Europe.