$60m gold refinery being built in Dubai

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• Image Credit: AP
• Annual gold refining capacity in the UAE is about 800 tonnes. Switzerland dominates the industry with over 3,000 tonnes, accounting for roughly 50 per cent or more of global refining.

Dubai: In the desert on the outskirts of Dubai, one of the world’s biggest gold refineries is under construction. When completed next year, it will help to alter the balance of power in the global gold industry.

Growth in demand for the precious metal is shifting east, to Asia’s fast-growing economies. But key industry activities such as refining and clearing ­ matching investors’ buy and sell orders ­remain dominated by Europe and the US.

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The $60 million refinery being built by Kaloti Precious Metals in Dubai is part of efforts to change that pattern, as is a plan by the Dubai Gold and Commodities Exchange to introduce a spot gold contract this June.

“Dubai is already a top global centre for gold trading,” Tarek Al Mdaka, chief executive of Kaloti Precious Metals, said in an interview. “The refinery is part of the next stage, making Dubai a top centre for physical gold refining and clearing.” If Dubai succeeds, it will be a new example of how the emirate can use its proximity to top consumers in India and China, low-tax environment and highly developed transport sector to muscle in on industries controlled by others