Middle East aluminum risk by product and company, Part 3: Oman/Saudi Arabia/Qatar

While recent strikes centered on major aluminum assets in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, this section turns to Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, where supply is tied to specific products and trade exposures as well.

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia’s semi-fabricated aluminum exports to the US are largely synonymous with Ma’aden Rolling Company, which operates as the country’s primary flat-rolled producer within an integrated aluminum value chain.

Can body stock

US exposure to imported can body stock is limited by domestic production capacity. The US produces more beverage cans than any other country, supported by an established rolling base and recent capacity additions, including Novelis’ Bay Minette, Ala., mill and Aluminum Dynamics’ Columbus, Miss., facility.

Even so, imports remain part of the supply mix. Total US imports of can body stock exceeded 300,000 metric tons in 2025.

More than half of that volume originated from South Korean. A significant share of South Korean production is tied to Novelis’ operations, including its Yeongju mill and Ulsan joint venture, which suggests a portion of those imports function as internally aligned supply rather than broadly available merchant material.

With South Korea included, Saudi Arabia accounted for 14.5% of US imports of can body stock in 2025. Excluding South Korea from the comparison raises Saudi Arabia’s share to 31.3%, placing it among the more visible external suppliers in that segment.

China accounted for roughly 16% of US imports of can body stock in 2025, slightly exceeding Saudi Arabia’s share, but those volumes were unevenly distributed across the year. Monthly shipments varied widely, including a spike of more than 11,500 metric tons in November, a few months after China only slightly surpassed 100 metric tons in August.

That volatility complicates its role as a consistent supply source. Over the same period, Thailand’s exports to the US increased by roughly two-thirds from 2024 to 2025, making it the fourth-largest supplier ahead of Brazil. That increase algins with a broader pattern of Chinese production shifting through southeast Asian supply chains as trade restrictions tightened.

Removing both South Korea and China from the comparison further concentrates the remaining supply base. Under that view Saudi Arabia accounted for nearly half of US imports of can body stock in 2025, exceeding the combined volumes from Thailand and Brazil.

Automotive sheet

Saudi Arabia’s role within “aluminum plates, sheets, and strip rectangular including square alloy not clad with a thickness of 6.2 mm or less, not elsewhere specified or included” is more limited, accounting for about 4.7% of US imports in 2025.

The country’s flat-rolled exports to the US specifically include 5754 and 5182 alloys. The presence of 5182 within this category, when not declared as can end stock, a different Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) classification, indicates the material is being applied outside beverage packaging, typically used elsewhere in automotive applications.

Oman

Oman’s semi-fabricated aluminum exports to the US are effectively represented by Oman Aluminium Rolling Company (OARC), which serves as the country’s primary source of flat-rolled products across both alloy and non-alloyed sheet categories.

Alloyed sheet

Oman’s role in US aluminum imports is most visible within a residual category covering alloy sheet not otherwise specified, including flat-rolled products less than 6.3 mm thick.

In 2025, Oman accounted for nearly 14% of US imports in that subcategory, placing it among the more concentrated suppliers once product-level distinctions are considered. That share is meaningful because Oman has limited presence across other flat-rolled classifications, making this category the clearest representation of tis participation in the US market.

OARC’s historical alloyed sheet exports to the US include 3003, 3105, 7072 and 8111, all of which fall within this residual classification. Alloy 3003 is widely used in general fabrication and heat exchanger applications, while 3105 is a common alloy used in building and construction applications such as residential siding.

Alloy 7072 is a zinc-alloyed material used primarily as a cladding layer in automotive, HVAC, and industrial systems. Alloy 8111, by contrast, is used in thin-gauge foil applications, but typically enters the US in reroll form and is captured within this same HTS category.

Canada and South Korea ranked as the two leading suppliers within the same HTS classification, both ahead of Oman. Interpreting those shares is not straightforward.

While a significant portion of South Korea’s flat-rolled production is tied to Novelis-affiliated mills, the country’s remaining producers also supply building sheet or common alloy in modest volumes. As a result, removing South Korea from the comparison does not provide a clear view of merchant supply in the way it can in more specialized categories, like beverage can body stock.

That dynamic also extends to the US market. According to CRU Group estimates, Novelis accounted for more than half of domestic building sheet production in 2025, indicating that supply is already concentrated among a limited number of producers in regard to 3105. (CRU Group is the parent company of AMU.)

That context matters when interpreting the import subcategory because it also captures more commoditized alloys, including 3003 and 3105 used in building and construction applications such as siding and roofing.

Among the alloys captured in this category, 7072 stands out as one of the more specialized products, with fewer global suppliers and more defined end uses.

Unalloyed sheet

Oman’s 6.77% share of US imports of aluminum sheet, plate, and strip appears modest at the aggregate level. However, within that total sits a narrower group of non-alloyed sheet products that carry outsized importance for specific end markets.

Within non-alloyed rectangular (incl. square) aluminum plates, sheets, and strip, Oman accounted for 42% of US imports in 2025. After Oman, the remaining import volumes is distributed across roughly 30 countries. The second-largest supplier, China, exported around 40% of Oman’s volume, and Oman’s shipments are more than three times those of the third-largest source.

That category includes commercially pure aluminum grades such as 1100 and 1350, both of which have been supplied by OARC. While broadly grouped within non-alloyed sheet trade data, these alloys serve distinct downstream function.

Alloy 1350 is primarily used in electrical applications due to its high conductivity. It is used in in electrical shielding, transformer windings, or sheet conductors. These end uses align with the redraw rod 1350 aluminum supplied by Midal Cables out of Bahrain, discussed in Part 2, with the distinction that the material appears here in sheet or reroll form rather than rod.

Alloy 1100 is used in applications that prioritize corrosion resistance and formability, including chemical equipment, food handling containers, light reflectors and fin stock.

Qatar

Qatar’s aluminum production is anchored by Qatalum, a joint venture between Norsk Hydro and Qatar Aluminium Manufacturing Company, with a nameplate capacity of 636,000 metric tons and casthouse capacity of 664,000 metric tons.

Primary aluminum

Output is primarily focused on extrusion billet and primary foundry alloys, with standard ingot representing a smaller share.

Despite that scale, Qatar has limited direct exposure to the US market.

In 2025, the country accounted for less than 1% of US unwrought aluminum imports, and an even smaller share of total aluminum imports.

Most of those shipments fall within two HTS categories: aluminum alloy billets, cast to shape, used as input for extrusion or further processing and primary aluminum foundry ingots intended for remelting or casting. Qatar accounted for roughly 3% and 2.5% of imports in those categories, respectively.

When Canada is excluded, those shares increase to about 4% and 8%, highlighting a slightly more visible role within the remaining supply base for primary foundry alloys in the latter case.

Even so, the broader structure of US primary aluminum supply limits Qatar’s relevance. Canadian metal continues to dominate US imports, supported by geographic proximity and long-standing trade flows, even with Section 232 tariffs in place. At the same time Norsk Hydro’s global footprint spans Europe and Asia, where Qatalum’s output is more likely to be directed.

That positioning leaves Qatar more exposed to global aluminum flows than to US-specific demand.

While Hydro maintains operations in North America, including partial ownership of the Aluminerie Alouette primary smelter in Quebec, its regional footprint is smaller than that of other producers with multiple smelters across Canada.

Disruption to Qatalum’s output may require Norsk Hydro to rebalance supply across its portfolio, reallocating metal from other operations to meet existing commitments. That said, how that would affect US trade flows is less clear, particularly given the company’s more limited primary aluminum footprint in the western hemisphere.

As a result, Qatar serves as an example of a producer with significant global capacity but limited directed impact on the US market. Unlike the more targeted product exposure seen in Oman and Saudi Arabia, Qatar’s role is concentrated in primary aluminum, where US import dependence is concentrated elsewhere.

Looking ahead

Across Oman, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar, US exposure is not defined by total import share alone, but by how specific products are used by downstream industries.

Saudi Arabia’s role is most visible in can body stock and automotive sheet, Oman’s in both alloy tied to construction and non-alloy sheet tied to electrical end markets, and Qatar’s in primary aluminum with limited direct US exposure.

Those distinctions show how broad trade categories can mask product-level concentration. In practice, supply risk and substitution depend less on total volume and more on where specific alloys and forms intersect with US manufacturing requirements.

This is Part 3 of a three-part series examining Middle aluminum supply. Part 2 examined other producers in the UAE and Bahrain, while Part 1 focused on Emirates Global Aluminium and Alba following recent strikes on their facilities.