This week, Rio Tinto will conduct a site visit of its Canadian operations for individuals working in the finance industry.
The major miner will use the site visit to showcase its low-carbon aluminium smelters in Saguenay, Québec. This will include the Shipshaw power station, a 1145-megawatt hydro power project, and the construction of its low-carbon AP60 smelter.
The visit will also tour the iron and titanium facility at Sorel-Tracy, which is known as the world’s largest critical minerals and metallurgical complex.
“We are well positioned to deliver value from the strong outlook for aluminium which is being driven by its critical role in electrification, with global metal demand set to rise by three per cent per year from 2023 to 2028,” Rio Tinto aluminium chief executive officer Jérôme Pécresse said.
“Recycled material is expected to account for around half of that growth.”
The growing aluminium demand has allowed Rio Tinto to exceed London Metal Exchange (LME) aluminium prices by approximately 20 per cent over the last five years.
The Matalco aluminium recycling joint venture has been a big contributor, with the initiative expected to generate around $70 million of operational, sales and marketing synergies per year by 2028.
Rio Tinto has also set a plan to reach a total concentrate production capacity of 23 million tonnes of high-grade iron ore at its subsidiary, Iron Ore Company of Canada.
“We have stabilised our global footprint of low-carbon, world-class aluminium assets and now have clear pathways to raise both the EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) margin and return on capital employed for our aluminium business by five percentage points by 2030,” Pécresse said.
“We expect to achieve this through our focus on operational excellence and technology, our increasing footprint in the recycled market, from our privileged access to North America – the world’s most attractive aluminium market – and by repowering our Pacific aluminium operations with lower cost renewables.”
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