The Region’s First Aluminum Rolling Mill

150,000 M2 Facility in Aqaba Employing Over 640 People


Wednesday, July 20th, 2022, Aqaba – Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC) and Orbit Aluminum Industries signed an agreement to establish the first Aluminum Rolling Mill in the region. The signing took place at the ADC Headquarters in Aqaba.

During the signing ceremony H.E. Hussein Safadi commented: ““ADC, as the investment arm for ASEZA, aims at creating a dynamic and comprehensive investment environment. The industrial sector is one of the main strategic investment pillars for ADC.” Safadi added: “This project is a major catalyst of the industrial and economic growth of Aqaba, and Jordan at large, with exports expected to be in excess of USD $400 million annually.” Safadi continued: “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.

Mr. Mumtaz Daaboul, CEO of Orbit, stated: "This investment marks yet another milestone of transformational growth phase for Orbit," Daaboul explained, “In light of the free trade agreements that the Kingdom enjoys, and the attractive investment environment, especially after the issuance of decisions related to supplying factories with natural gas and allowing export industries to generate their electricity needs from renewable energy sources, we took a decision to expand our activities in ASEZ by adding a new factory to our portfolio of investments in Aqaba” , he added: “Scrap recycling and aluminum rolling to produce aluminum coils is considered a strategic development in Jordan, as it provides new local raw materials that are complementary to many industries.”

Aluminum coils are manufactured through several production stages, starting with heating aluminum to melt it, then 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 levelled before packaging.

Orbit Aluminum Industries was established in 2016 in the PBI Aqaba International Industrial Estate and as a USD $82 million Singaporean / Canadian investment. Orbit 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. Orbit currently employs about 160 employees, 70% of which are local employees. Orbit currently exports about 98% of the production capacity, which contributes to supporting the national economy and is enabling the establishment of several other complementary value-added industries.