Emirates Aluminum picks Oklahoma for US facility site

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) has selected a site in northeastern Oklahoma to develop the first new primary aluminum production plant in the United States since 1980.

EGA, based in the United Arab Emirates, expects the $4 billion plant to have a production capacity of 600,000 metric tons per year of primary aluminum, nearly doubling the current U.S. production level for the material.

EGA already owns recycled-content aluminum production in the U.S. after its 2024 purchase of an 80 percent stake in Spectro Alloys, Rosemount, Minnesota.

Construction of the primary aluminum plant will be preceded by a feasibility study, but EGA says construction should start by the end of 2026, with the first hot metal produced by the end of this decade.

The site chosen is in the Tulsa Port of Inola industrial park near Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is subject to the finalization of a power supply agreement for the site, plus agreement on state and local investment incentives and tax credit arrangements. It is situated on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System (M-KARNS), which is connected to the wider Mississippi River inland waterway system, providing for waterborne bulk freight movement.

“The U.S. has been an important market for EGA for several decades, and we know there is strong demand for our high-quality metal ‘made in America,’” says Abdulnasser Bin Kalban, CEO of EGA.

“EGA has the skills, technology and capital to start rebuilding this great American industry, and in Oklahoma I am confident we will secure the right conditions to do so. This is an important moment for EGA, and for the economic relationship between the U.S. and the United Arab Emirates.”

At its EGA Spectro Alloys facility in Minnesota, EGA says it is investing to expand from 110,000 metric tons of recycled-content foundry capacity to add another 55,000 metric tons of output. That expansion is expected to start producing hot metal and then ramp up production later this year.

“We want more goods to be manufactured in Oklahoma and EGA is the perfect partner,” Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt says. “EGA’s new plant will be the heart of a broader hub for strategic industry in Oklahoma, creating jobs and opportunity for Oklahomans as well as enhancing economic resilience and national security for all Americans."