Glencore buys stakes in Norsk Hydro and Vale’s assets in Brazil

Glencore (LSE: GLEN) said on Thursday is buying a 30% stake in Brazil’s alumina refinery Alunorte from Norwegian aluminum producer Norsk Hydro and a 5% stake in Mineracao Rio do Norte, which is the South American country’s largest bauxite producer and exporter.

The miner and commodities trader which is in the midst of trying to take over Canada’s Teck, expects to pay about US$700 million for both non-controlling stakes on completion of the deal, in the second half of 2023.

The transactions, it said, include certain post-closing adjustments, based on the performance of Alunorte over a 21-month period from that time. The refinery, which turns mined bauxite into alumina, is the largest of its kind outside China.

Norsk Hydro has other two installations in the Brazilian state of Para, including the Paragominas bauxite mine and Albras, where smelters turn alumina into aluminum.

Vale (NYSE: VALE) said, in turn, it had agreed to sell to Ananke Alumina, a subsidiary of Norsk Hydro, its 40% stake in Mineracao Rio do Norte (MRN). 

MNR is a joint venture between Vale with 40%), South32 (ASX: S32) with 33%, Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO; LSE: RIO; ASX: RIO) with 12%) CBA with 10%), and Norsk Hydro with 5%.

“The growing decarbonization trend is driving demand not only for the mass production of batteries that require the raw materials which Glencore produces, but also for primary aluminum as a strong, lightweight manufacturing metal,” Glencore’s head of alumina and aluminum, Robin Scheiner, said in a statement.

Norsk Hydro will use proceeds from the deal for strategic growth and for shareholder distribution, chief executive Hilde Merete Aasheim said in a separate statement.

Once the transactions are completed, the Norwegian company will have a 62% stake in Alunorte, Glencore 30% and the remaining four minority shareholders will jointly own 8%.