Record Fab Plant Eyed Near Tulsa

February 25, 2026

Once complete, the facility will be the largest ever primary aluminum production plant in the U.S.

Work is underway on a major aluminum smelting plant in Oklahoma. *Image courtesy of Emirates Global Aluminium and Century Aluminum Co.*

U.S. Aluminum Co. has inked an agreement with Emirates Global Aluminium and Century Aluminum to explore the development of an aluminum fabrication plant near the new aluminum smelter—a major new aluminum production plant—that EGA and Century are planning in Inola, Okla. Should U.S. Aluminum’s plant be developed, it would turn liquid aluminum into products for the electrical, defense, aerospace, automotive and machinery industries.

The agreement is the first one in the wake of the announcement in January by EGA and Century that they will develop a smelter that would produce 750,000 metric tons of aluminum per year, an amount that would roughly double current U.S. domestic production. The smelter would also be the first major new facility of its kind built in the U.S. since 1980.

EGA’s share of the joint venture is 60 percent, while Century owns the remaining 40 percent. Construction of the EGA and Century project is expected to start by the end of 2026, with production beginning by the end of this decade. Detailed engineering work is already underway, as are negotiations with Public Service Company of Oklahoma and the state of Oklahoma regarding a long-term power supply, since aluminum smelting is an energy-intensive process.

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The plant will be built at the industrial park at Tulsa Port of Inola, located on the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, which is connected to the Mississippi River system. That will provide for efficient bulk freight movement of finished aluminum products.

The Inola plant is expected to drive the development of a regional aluminum-focused industrial hub in Oklahoma, according to its developer, creating opportunities in the upstream supply chain and in new downstream aluminum manufacturing, a situation that U.S. Aluminum may be able to take advantage of.

U.S. Aluminum is owned by the Plotkin family of Oklahoma City, owners of aluminum fabrication specialist M-D Building Products, which has been in the hardware industry for more than a century.

Global aluminum comes to Oklahoma

It isn’t certain how much real estate the expanded aluminum industry will eventually take in Oklahoma, though in a statement in January, EGA and Century said that the Inola plant will create 1,000 permanent direct jobs at the facility and 4,000 jobs during construction. Inola is in the Tulsa MSA, with a population of nearly 1,900, according to the 2020 Census.

The project is backed by a $500 million federal grant from the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, as well as subsidies provided by the state of Oklahoma. The announcement comes at a low point for the U.S. aluminum industry, which has only four operating aluminum plants with a combined output of 683,500 metric tons per year, a fraction of the industry’s production as late as the turn of this century.

In 2000, the U.S. was the world’s largest producer of aluminum from ore. More than 20 years later, the country’s share of world production is around 2 percent, and what remains of the industry has been lobbying the federal government for some years for public investment in the sector.

Also, in 2024, the U.S. imported 5.46 million metric tons of aluminum, which provides about 85 percent of the aluminum needs of American industries.

The Inola partnership combines EGA’s expertise in aluminum smelting design and technology with Century’s history of operating aluminum smelters in the U.S. utilizing domestic supply chains. Once complete, the Inola plant will be the largest ever primary aluminum production plant in the U.S., according to the partners.

EGA manufactures one in every 25 tons of aluminum made worldwide, including operations such as alumina refining and the production of cast metal and recycling. (Alumina is the key precursor for aluminum metal smelting.)

The company is a state-owned entity of the United Arab Emirates. EGA’s facilities include an aluminum smelter and an alumina refinery in Abu Dhabi, an aluminum smelter in Dubai, a specialty foundry in Germany and an aluminum recycling plant in the U.S.

Century is a producer of bauxite (aluminum ore) and primary aluminum products, and in fact the largest producer of primary aluminum in the U.S. The company also operates production facilities in Iceland, the Netherlands and Jamaica.