Top Gulf Aluminum Producer EGA Halted Output After Iran Strike - Bloomberg #AbuDhabi #UAE

Top Gulf Aluminum Producer EGA Halted Output After Iran Strike - Bloomberg

Emirates Global Aluminium, the Middle East’s top producer of the metal, halted operations at its Al Taweelah smelter after the site was struck by Iranian missiles and drones over the weekend, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The smelter on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi lost power due to the strikes and smelting facilities known as potlines were forced into an uncontrolled shutdown, said the person, who asked not to be identified as the information isn’t public. Metal has solidified inside the smelting circuits, causing significant damage to the operations, the person said.

Aluminum prices rose as much as 2% on the London Metal Exchange after Bloomberg reported on the halt, while shares of rival producers including Alcoa Corp. and Century Aluminum Co. rallied more than 5%.

LME futures of the lightweight metal have surged since the strikes, with Aluminium Bahrain, another major producer in the region, also confirming its operations were attacked by Iran over the weekend. The two plants are among the world’s largest, each producing 1.6 million tons of aluminum in 2025.

A halt at EGA’s smelter, along with Alba’s reduced operations and earlier curtailments at Qatar’s Qatalum smelter would take around 3 million tons of annual capacity offline — close to half of Middle East aluminum production, said Ewa Manthey, commodity strategist at ING Groep NV. That marks a “sharp escalation” from earlier disruptions and would imply “deeper aluminum deficits” across all scenarios.

The Middle East as a whole produces about 9% of global supply, with EGA and others playing a key role in supplying manufacturers across Europe, Asia and the US. Even before the industry was directly targeted, the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz had already left the region’s major producers short of critical inputs, with the sector anticipating a cascading wave of production cuts unless the strait reopens soon.

“The Strait of Hormuz is effectively a chokepoint for the global aluminum market,” Wood Mackenzie principal analyst Charvi Trivedi said in an April 1 note, which estimated that disruptions could remove 3 million to 3.5 million tons of output this year. “Disruptions here could cut off up to 60% of alumina supply to Middle Eastern smelters, rapidly deepening the market deficit.”

Aluminum is the most ubiquitous industrial metal after steel, but in recent years the industry has faced several disruptions in a complex global supply chain that involves mining raw bauxite ores, refining them into alumina and then smelting that into finished metal. While EGA can produce some alumina itself, it’s typically a large buyer of the material, bringing in additional cargoes through the strait to feed Al Taweelah and a second smelter in Dubai.

EGA has moved to sell large volumes of alumina in the wake of the strikes, Bloomberg reported earlier Wednesday.

With the exception of aluminum, base metals faced heavy downward pressure in March as hostilities in the Middle East disrupted commodity supplies and threatened an inflationary shock for the world economy. US President Donald Trump said Wednesday he’ll only consider a halt to attacks on Iran when the Strait of Hormuz is reopened, sowing further confusion about how long he’s prepared to continue the war.

Copper on the LME traded 0.9% higher at $12,448.50 a ton as of 5:08 pm in London. Aluminum was 1.4% higher at $3,515.40 a ton. Other key industrial metals also rose.

Iran War: The #Dubai Is Fine Narrative Is Looking a Little Stretched - Bloomberg #UAE

Iran War: The Dubai Is Fine Narrative Is Looking a Little Stretched - Bloomberg

History has not been kind to the aspiring cultural and finance hubs of the Middle East over the past 50 years, from Beirut’s descent into civil war to Kuwait’s invasion by neighboring Iraq. Hence why Gulf economies such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi are determined to show they can overcome their biggest test yet, a US-Israeli war with Iran that’s killed thousands across the region, displaced many and massively disrupted oil supplies. The omens haven’t been great.

Officially, things are fine in the United Arab Emirates despite the missile strikes and economic worries. They’ll be even better if President Donald Trump is right about the US exiting the war within two to three weeks, and that leads to a broader cessation of the fighting and a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for oil out of the Gulf.

From government pronouncements to social-media posts, the state position is that life goes on and the UAE will even benefit from coming through this period. “Our institutions are operating efficiently, our defense forces with professionalism, and our private sector with responsibility,” Dubai’s ruler, Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, said at the weekend, adding that the emirates “will emerge stronger.”

Yet as the war has grinded into a fifth week, the positive narrative has been starting to look a little stretched. Efforts to curb bad news haven’t stopped occasional outbursts from people saying what they really think, from Emirati billionaire Khalaf Al Habtoor’s angry post (subsequently deleted) lambasting Trump to corporate bosses saying the region’s growth outlook is uncertain.

This isn’t existential yet for Dubai’s position as a business hub. Abu Dhabi’s oil riches have helped out its fellow emirate in the past. But the prospect of a longer war has been weighing on the Gulf economy, as has the fading likelihood of a substantially weakened Islamic Republic. Arab nations could lose between $120 billion and $194 billion from gross domestic product as a result of war disruptions, according to an analysis by the UN Development Program, released on Tuesday.

Before Trump’s latest comments on Tuesday about ending the war, Dubai’s stock market had fallen by more than 18% since just before the conflict started, with the listed real-estate sector down about 30%. Some hotels have cut prices heavily, according to their websites. Dubai Airport has reopened with limited capacity and airlines rerouting to Asia. Property developers have been allaying investor concerns over a potential liquidity crunch. The UAE’s central bank rolled out a resilience package to support the banking sector.

For a global finance hub dubbed by some as the Switzerland of the Middle East, the economic scars could run deep. Talk of an exodus from Dubai and Abu Dhabi was always overdone — there are plenty of long-term expats living there who have no immediate alternatives and who are umbilically attached to a quality of life that includes zero income tax and great childcare. Many Emirates-based people would much rather talk about resilience than recession.

Yet it’s becoming more common to hear from those who relocated to the region, or brought over relatives, saying something along the lines of: I didn’t sign up for this. A senior investment banker tells me that while there’s been a low take-up for relocations from the UAE, there are doubts about a return to the status quo ante — when a flood of arrivals had people talking of Dubai as an alternative to London.

The UAE has, of course, done an impressive job intercepting more than 2,000 missiles since the conflict began. And it has rebounded strongly from previous crises such as a real-estate bubble in 2008. It thrived during the pandemic.

But its exposed position on the geopolitical map is now evident. The Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf’s waterway into open ocean, is something countries and companies are trying to avoid. Dubai’s port of Jebel Ali, known as the “engine,” is much quieter than normal. The UAE does have an Hormuz-dodging route via Fujairah for oil exports but that’s still vulnerable to attacks.

Moreover, the country’s fortunes and future prospects depend on its non-oil economy — as does Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030. And this is where international investors might look differently at the region’s vulnerability to Iran’s asymmetric warfare from now on. The Gulf has been betting on local commercial projects driven by artificial intelligence and data centers; a repricing of the risk of such ventures is likely at a time when critical infrastructure from gas terminals to aluminum producers has been struck.

This could be the moment when the UAE’s massive sovereign wealth funds — with international stakes in everything from soccer teams to hotels and tech companies — are tapped for local use. The UAE is so far standing by a $1.4 trillion pledge to invest in Trump’s America, though a prolonged conflict will doubtless require some reprioritization toward security at home.

One big US question is whether the Gulf states remain under its security umbrella. There’s increasing noise in the region about retaliating against Iran, with some voices in the UAE calling for a doubling down on the US partnership. At the same time, the Americans are proving to be a wayward ally.

Dubai’s supporters make the point that global capital has few other places to go, especially as London increases taxes and gets more squeamish about where the money comes from. The UAE-or-bust lobby is mistaken, however.

International capital could find a home in the old-world hubs of Geneva and Milan, even if Europe has its own wartime challenges. Hong Kong’s appeal is returning despite China’s national-security law. “People say that these places are boring, but boring is the new sexy,” one financier told Bloomberg News recently. In this new era of insecurity, it’s hard to disagree.

London’s Family Offices Drew Mideast Money as Non-Doms Fled - Bloomberg #UAE #SaudiArabia

London’s Family Offices Drew Mideast Money as Non-Doms Fled - Bloomberg

London’s unsettled family office economy has drawn rising investment from wealthy Middle Eastern families in the past 18 months, providing a boost as other rich investors pull back.

Firms managing multi-billion-dollar fortunes from the United Arab Emirates to Saudi Arabia have hired executives, opened new premises and boosted UK holdings since early 2025, according to an analysis of registry filings and online posts by Bloomberg.

The cohort includes the Al Rostamani family, whose Dubai-based conglomerate has more than $2 billion in annual revenues and 4,000 employees, as well as the influential Bin Mahfouz and Alsubeaei merchant dynasties. In January, a family office for part of the Bin Mahfouz dynasty, who rose to prominence as bankers to Saudi royals, switched to London’s prestigious St. James’s area from the UK capital’s outskirts, according to filings.

“Middle Eastern families are increasingly operating multi-hub family office models, where London plays a central role,” said Martin Roll, a global family business strategist and senior adviser at McKinsey & Co. The UK capital “offers a level of international diversification — legally, financially, and culturally — that few other cities can match.”

Representatives for the Al Rostamani, Bin Mahfouz and Alsubeaei dynasties — whose family-owned conglomerates oversee some of the Middle East’s largest industrial, healthcare and retail businesses — didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The filings date from before the current conflict in the Middle East and it’s unclear what wealth changes they or other families in the region might be making. Still, the moves offer the latest signs of how a wave of major family offices are increasingly operating in more than one territory as private investment firms for the ultra-wealthy increase in size and sophistication.

At the same time, billionaires such as John Fredriksen, Nassef Sawiris and Guillaume Pousaz have recently curbed their ties to the UK as Keir Starmer’s Labour government hiked taxes last year for many well-heeled residents. The family offices for some departing individuals have scaled back UK operations, moved staff abroad and opened new branches in other territories, disrupting Britain’s traditionally booming sector for attracting private investment firms for the world’s ultra-wealthy.

Tax and geopolitics are among the most cited-reasons for family offices moving from one territory to another, according to a survey published last year of 585 family office professionals from KPMG and Agreus Group, with almost half of their employers now operating in more than one location.

The Middle East elite — whose territories have been a magnet for attracting family offices in recent years — are typically less affected by the UK’s tax reforms as they often aren’t fully resident, instead opting to spend chunks of the summer months in Europe because of scorching temperatures back home.

“Middle Eastern families take a long-term, stewardship-driven view - despite the UK’s evolving tax and regulatory landscape,” Roll added. “They are less reactive to short-term policy shifts and more focused on stability, rule of law, and the ability to deploy capital across generations.”

Family offices more generally have boomed over the past two decades amid surging riches in areas such as tech and finance. Alongside New York and Singapore, the UK has traditionally ranked as a leading destination. At least 20 individuals tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index of the world’s 500 biggest fortunes had UK family office entities at the start of this year, helping oversee riches totaling more than $450 billion.

The Al Rostamani, Alsubeaei and Bin Mahfouz dynasties set up firms as recently as late 2024 to oversee their wealth, joining Qatar’s former emir and Saudi Arabia’s Juffali clan in tapping the UK’s deep pool of finance professionals, according to Bloomberg’s analysis.

The Al Rostamanis hired Aron Balas to lead investments for their family office, Athenaeum Partners UK, after the 42 year-old had helped run part of the Rothschild banking dynasty’s fortune, according to LinkedIn data. An Athenaeum entity acquired UK automotive dealership Johnsons Cars Limited in September, building on the Al Rostamani family’s existing operations as distributors for Nissan and Renault vehicles in the UAE.

Meantime, Sane Capital, a family office for part of the Bin Mahfouz dynasty, recruited Matthew Ridley as chief investment officer last year. The 53 year-old also held a similar role as a money manager for the Rothschilds, registry filings show.

The Alsubeaeis recently included a London address on the website of their family office, Lote Global, adding to a premises in England’s East Midlands region. The Saudi dynasty, who trace their origins back to a trading house founded almost a century ago, already hold UK real estate investments spanning luxury apartments in Manchester and Newcastle.

Lote also recruited a London-based chief of staff last year as well as Andre Keijsers, a veteran of the UK capital’s finance sector who became Lote’s deputy CEO in late 2025, LinkedIn data shows.

#Dubai leads Gulf stocks higher on hopes of de-escalation in Iran war | Reuters

Dubai leads Gulf stocks higher on hopes of de-escalation in Iran war | Reuters

Gulf stock markets ended higher on Wednesday amid hopes of a de-escalation in the Iran conflict, with Dubai leading gains as its 1 ​billion dirham ($272.3 million) support package came into effect.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Washington could end ‌its military campaign within two to three weeks and that Tehran is not required to reach a deal to stop the conflict, signaling most clearly his intent to bring the month-long war to a close.

Dubai's ​main stock index (.DFMGI), opens new tab advanced 2%, led by a 5.6% surge in blue-chip developer Emaar ​Properties (EMAR.DU), opens new tab and a 4.7% jump in top lender Emirates NBD (ENBD.DU), opens new tab.

Dubai approved 1 billion dirhams ($272.26 ⁠million) in economic support measures for the business sector, effective immediately for a period of ​three to six months, the crown prince said on X on Monday.

GCC equity markets advanced as hopes ​of a de-escalation in Middle East tensions helped restore some stability. If these expectations are realized, the recovery could become more sustained over the medium term, said Milad Azar, a market analyst at XTB MENA.

Support from the Dubai government's ​new package could ease economic pressures and support growth, providing further boost to the market, ​Azar said. "Additionally, the UAE continues to benefit from resilient fundamentals."

In Abu Dhabi, the index (.FTFADGI), opens new tab gained 1.4%, with ‌Aldar Properties (ALDAR.AD), opens new tab ⁠closing 0.9% higher.

The Qatari benchmark index (.QSI), opens new tab rose 0.8%, with petrochemicals maker Industries Qatar (IQCD.QA), opens new tab finishing 3.9% higher.

Meanwhile, an Iranian cruise missile struck an oil tanker leased by state-owned QatarEnergy in Qatari waters on Wednesday, .

Saudi Arabia's benchmark index (.TASI), opens new tab added 0.2%, helped by a 1.2% gain in Saudi National Bank (1180.SE), opens new tab, the country's biggest lender by ​assets, and a 0.6% rise ​in oil giant Saudi ⁠Aramco (2222.SE), opens new tab.

In Saudi Arabia, the market has stabilized after a steady recovery this month, with still-elevated oil prices continuing to support sentiment, said Azar.

Oil, however, reversed ​earlier gains on Wednesday as uncertainty over the situation in the ​Middle East continued ⁠to unnerve markets.

Outside the Gulf, Egypt's blue-chip index (.EGX30), opens new tab leapt more than 3%, as most of its constituents were in positive territory including Commercial International Bank (COMI.CA), opens new tab, which gained 3.1%.