Two major aluminium production facilities in the Middle East were hit by Iranian strikes on March 28, raising concerns over global supply as disruption in the region intensifies.

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), one of the world’s largest producers, sustained “significant damage”, while Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) said it is “assessing the extent of the damage” following a separate strike on its operations.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed the sites targeted were linked to the United States military, in a statement carried by Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB. The strikes were retaliation for a US-Israeli attack on Iranian industrial infrastructure launched from military bases hosting US forces in the Gulf states, the IRGC said.

EGA said on March 28 its Al Taweelah site sustained significant damage during Iranian missile and drone attacks at Khalifa Economic Zone Abu Dhabi, with assessments ongoing. The company said a number of employees were injured, but added that none of the injuries were life-threatening.

The biggest non-energy industrial company in the UAE, the Al Taweelah smelter produced 1.6mn tonnes of cast metal in 2025. The company added it had "substantial metal stock on the water when the conflict began, and stock on the ground in some overseas locations." EGA operates two smelters, one each in the emirates of Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

Alba said in a statement that two employees were injured in the attack on its facility.  

The Middle East accounts for approximately 9% of global aluminium supply, making it a critical source for international markets. Analysts warn that disruption to production and exports could tighten supply chains already under pressure from logistical constraints in the Gulf.

Emirates Global Aluminium, jointly owned by Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and the Investment Corporation of Dubai, is a major supplier to international markets, including the US. The UAE is the second-largest aluminium exporter to the US after Canada.

The company is also involved in plans to develop what has been described as the first new aluminium smelter in the US in decades, a project in Oklahoma backed by state-level incentives and aimed at strengthening domestic supply.

Damage to facilities in both the UAE and Bahrain could therefore have implications beyond the region, particularly for US manufacturers reliant on imported aluminium.

There has been no independent verification of the extent of the damage, and neither company has provided detailed operational updates.

“Emirates Global Aluminium sustained ‘significant damage’,” according to the report, while Alba said it is “assessing the extent of the damage”.