Oman signs $250.2m deal with Korea's EL B&T for EV and battery plant in Duqm
The two-stage project in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm is projected to reach 60,000 vehicles and 1.6 million battery cells a year once the second phase is finished.
Oman has signed an investment usufruct agreement with the Korean electric vehicle technology firm EL B&T to build an electric vehicle and battery cell manufacturing complex in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm.
The total investment is estimated at OMR96.2 million, equivalent to about $250.2 million. Qais Mohammed Al Yousef, chairman of the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ), signed for the Omani side. Dr. Young Ill Kim signed on behalf of EL B&T.
Two stages, two land parcels
The facility will be developed in two stages. Phase one will occupy 467,000 square metres. A further 429,000 square metres has been earmarked for the phase two expansion.
Once the second stage is complete, annual output is projected at 60,000 vehicles and 1.6 million battery cells.
Building an industrial base around the plant
The venture is intended to establish an integrated industrial ecosystem for the electric vehicle sector inside the zone. It also aims to strengthen value chains for batteries and other automotive components, and to attract complementary industries in the coming years.
That second goal is the more ambitious one. A single assembly plant can be supplied largely from abroad; a component base cannot. Whether suppliers follow EL B&T into Duqm will depend on volumes holding up and on how quickly the regional export plan advances.
Domestic first, then the region
The project initially targets existing demand in the Omani domestic market. A gradual expansion toward the wider GCC, Middle East and North African markets is planned as the facility grows.
Duqm sits on the Arabian Sea coast, outside the Strait of Hormuz, and the zone has been developed around a port, a dry dock and large industrial land allocations. Vehicle manufacturing at that scale fits the export logic of the site better than it fits the size of Oman's own car market, which is small. The sequencing in the agreement reflects that: sell at home first, then widen.
Cell production, rather than pack assembly, is the piece that would tie the zone into battery supply chains rather than only into vehicle assembly. It is also the harder part to get running, and the part that phase two carries.
The agreement gives OPAZ a tenant for a large block of industrial land and gives EL B&T a base inside the Gulf's customs arrangements. Construction timelines, hiring plans and the split of investment between the two phases were not disclosed in the signing details.
