We are pleased to report another record year of strong operational growth and financial performance despite market challenges with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War, COVID-19 concerns in China, higher energy costs in Europe, fears of recession and continuous supply-chain disruptions -- all of which have taken their toll on the Aluminium market
We hit an all-time production record of 1,600,111 metric tonnes per annum while our Value-Added Sales exceeded, for the first time in history, 1,042,000 metric tonnes. We also recorded 30+ million safe working hours without LTI for the second year in a row; our EBITDA was at record levels of US$1.502 billion; and our Profit hit the three-comma club again with US$1.107 billion.
As one of Bahrain’s flagship companies, we are committed to the ‘Net Zero Emissions by 2060’ objective under the leadership of HRH Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. We launched our comprehensive ESG Roadmap in April 2022, which outlined six strategic priorities: (1) Decarbonisation, (2) Green Energy & Aluminium, (3) Circular Economy & Secondary Aluminium, (4) Employee Welfare, (5) Collaboration & Partnership and (6) Transparency, Communications & Due Diligence. Alba’s ESG Roadmap is an all-inclusive approach that embeds our ambitious targets to address the challenges that are and will affect us. The six priority areas outlined in the Roadmap will accelerate our pace to further sustainable value for our people and society. A special ESG Taskforce Committee was also created to evaluate the ESG-linked initiatives for each of the 6 priorities and monitor the Company’s achievements
I am pleased to say that numerous initiatives in line with our ESG Roadmap are underway or have been realised already. A key initiative that translates Alba’s commitment towards the environment is the Spent Pot Lining (SPL) Treatment Plant that started operations in late 2021, which achieved 31,000 metric tonnes (MT) of processed SPL material in 2022, ahead of its 30,000 MT target by +3%. The Plant also exported 27,052 MT of HiCal shipments to customers in Asia in 2022, exceeding its target of 25,000 MT by +8%.
We also made excellent progress on our Solar Farm Project with the awarding of the installation of around 11,000 Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Panels over an area of 37,000 m2 . Once completed, the Solar Farm will have a capacity of more than 6 Megawatts (MW) and reduce approximately 7,591,760 kilograms of carbon emissions per year -- corresponding to a total reduction of 189,794,000 kilograms of carbon emissions over 25-year span.
Another key highlight of our ESG Journey in 2022 was the planting of trees at various locations, inside and outside the Company’s premises, distribution of saplings to several educational institutes and financial backing to support the conservation of mangroves, all of which were aimed at increasing Bahrain’s green cover. Alba also demonstrated leadership in socially responsible initiatives through significant Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)s with government bodies and private sector companies in Bahrain to collaborate for potential ESG initiatives.
We are proud to be leading the way in sustainable production, which has led us to be recognised as the Number One Company for ESG in Bahrain (by ESG Invest) for the third year in a row.
Alba’s human assets are the backbone of its successes. Our people development initiatives are strong and focused on empowering employees with skills and strengthening their professional calibre, which is part of our commitment to Bahrain’s Economic Vision 2030.
Alba has an intensive training curriculum that focusses on higher education, skills improvement and finding the right development paths for its employees. Alba also collaborates with several leading vocational and technical institutes in Bahrain and outside the Kingdom to provide quality education and training to its employees. By supporting our people in enhancing their skills and broadening their scope of knowledge, I believe that we are upgrading our own productivity. Over five decades and counting, Alba’s investment in its employees’ growth has yielded positive results and today, we are the largest Aluminium smelter in the world ex-China.
While we focus on many areas in our business, Safety remains our top priority in everything we do. We believe that a successful Safety culture is linked to our productivity and impacts the lives of our employees and stakeholders.
Our Safety culture has been strengthened by the strong support of our Board, direct involvement of our top management, and the commitment of every single employee. All our efforts have seen Alba achieving excellent Safety results throughout the year, which have been attested by the numerous awards we have won. The most notable achievement for us in 2022 was setting a historic record in Safety by topping 30 million SafeWorking Hours without Lost Time Injury (LTI) on 01 September 2022. We were the first Aluminium smelter in the Region to attain this milestone; hence, setting the benchmark for others to follow.
While we set a historic record in the Aluminium industry, we also had a setback with an unfortunate Lost Time Injury (LTI) incident, which caused our Safety to reset to zero. However, I believe that our safety fundamentals are strong, which, when coupled with our Safety principles and determination, will help us to focus on ‘Safety First and Always’ inside and outside Alba.
We are proud to have embedded ESG in our operations and processes. As we step into 2023, we remain focused on realising our ESG goals by working collectively. We have set our course for 2023 with our Objectives 1) Safety is our Operating License; 2) AL HASSALAH Top Up; 3) Be Ready to Take Off Safely and 4) Don’t Limit Yourself.
We have entered 2023 in a good position and are confident for reaching new heights by capitalising on what we have built.
