Dubai – Mubasher: US President Donald Trump’s decision of imposing tariffs on aluminium imports has prompted Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) to delay its initial public offering (IPO) plan. 

EGA, the UAE's largest industrial company outside oil and gas, attributed the decision to unfavorable market conditions.

In May, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the CEO of Abu Dhabi’s sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Co., said that the aluminium company could go public by the second half of 2018 or early 2019.

“However, EGA has completed its preparations and is ready to proceed as soon as market conditions are suitable,” the company, which produces 4% of metal globally, said in a statement.

It is worth noting that EGA, owned equally by Mubadala and the Investment Corp. of Dubai, exports around 90% of its output, and the US is considered its key market.

EGA sells its products to more than 60 countries across the world, and its smelter in Abu Dhabi includes the world’s longest production line, or pot line, spanning 1.7 kilometers (1.1 miles).