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Ammon News - The Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC) and Orbit Aluminum Industries signed Wednesday a $175-million agreement to establish the first aluminum rolling mill in the region.

During the signing ceremony, Hussein Safadi, CEO of the corporation, said: "The ADC, as the investment arm for the Aqaba Special Economic Zone (ASEZ), aims at creating a dynamic and comprehensive investment environment. The industrial sector is one of the main strategic investment pillars for the ADC."

"This project is a major catalyst of the industrial and economic growth of Aqaba, and Jordan at large, with exports expected to be north of USD $400 million annually," Safadi added. "We are proud to be home to the first private aluminum rolling mill in the Middle East and are delighted that such a pioneering project will provide hundreds of local employment opportunities."

The new USD $175 million Orbit facility will be developed on a 150 dunums plot of land in the South Industrial Complex area of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone and will employ 240 people in its first phase and create an additional 400 local job opportunities in its second phase, according to a statement.

Mumtaz Daaboul, CEO of Orbit, stated: "This investment marks yet another milestone of transformational growth phase for Orbit." The company made the decision to expand its activities in the ASEZ and add a new factory to the portfolio of investments in port city in light of the Kingdom's free trade agreements and the attractive investment environment, especially following decisions related to supplying factories with natural gas and allowing export industries to generate their electricity needs from renewable energy sources, he added.

"Scrap recycling and aluminum rolling to produce aluminum coils are considered a strategic development in Jordan, as they provide new local raw materials that are complementary to many industries," Daaboul underlined.

The ADC, launched in 2004, is owned by the Government of Jordan and the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority and is mandated to build new infrastructure and required superstructure, expand existing utilities, create necessary business enablers and manage/operate key facilities for the ASEZ.

Meanwhile, the Orbit Aluminum Industries, established in 2016, is one of the region’s leading companies in the production of industrial coatings and coated aluminum coils, with a production capacity of 30,000 tons annually.

Aluminum coils are manufactured by melting aluminum, adding other alloying elements to give it mechanical properties, and then casting it in molds into large slabs, which are later heated, rolled on the hot mill then cold mill finally tension leveled before packaging.