Rio Tinto’s previously announced acquisition of Sumitomo Chemical Company’s (SCC’s) 20.64% interest in New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) was completed on 1 November 2024. NZAS owns and operates the Tiwai Point aluminum smelter in New Zealand, which produces more than 335,000 tonnes of the world’s purest aluminum using electricity from renewable sources annually.

NZAS aluminum has a carboin footprint of two tonnes of CO₂ for every tonne of aluminum; the international average is 13 tonnes.

Rio Tinto has also completed the previously announced acquisition of SCC’s 2.46% stake in Boyne Smelters Limited (BSL). The completion of this transaction, along with the recently completed acquisition of Mitsubishi’s 11.65% stake in BSL, brings Rio Tinto’s total interest in BSL to 73.5%.

The acquisition of SCC’s stakes in NZAS and BSL was for an undisclosed price.