Rio Tinto, Marubeni Team Up to Create Transparent Aluminum Supply Chains

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Australia miner Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO; LSE: RIO; NASDAQ: RIO) and Japanese conglomerate Marubeni are teaming up to secure a sustainable and reliable supply of Rio Tinto’s responsible aluminum products to downstream Japanese manufacturers. The first sale is a batch of Rio’s RenewAl high-purity aluminum from the renewably powered New Zealand Aluminum Smelters to a major Japanese motorcycle manufacturer. This is part of a commitment to reduce carbon emissions throughout its supply chains and manufacturing.

The new partnership combines Rio Tinto’s suite of responsible aluminium products – which include RenewAl, the industry’s first certified low carbon aluminium; aluminium stewardship initiative (ASI) certified aluminium; and the digital traceability platform START – with Marubeni’s extensive trading network, commercial capability and carbon credit mechanism, Neutr-Al, which will be offered as part of the collaboration.

The agreement is the first of its kind in Japan and the Asia-Pacific region. It is focused on providing downstream industry with a simple, integrated way to achieve ESG-related goals and requirements, such as reducing carbon footprints, disclosing lifecycle assessment, and sourcing responsibly. It will also provide strong long-term security of supply at a time of growing supply-chain risks.

Rio Tinto operates some of the most technically advanced aluminum operations in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region of Quebec. The company runs an aluminum refinery, five wholly owned smelters, six hydropower plants, a research and development centre at Arvida, an aluminum operations centre, a rail network, and one port.

In 2018, Rio launched Elysis, a partnership with Alcoa, to develop breakthrough technology that eliminates direct GHG emissions from aluminum smelters by using pure oxygen. The first Elysis carbon-free aluminum was produced in 2021, and work continues towards the demonstration of larger, commercial-sized cells this year. Construction of the first such prototype cells has begun at Rio’s Alma smelter.

 Courtesy: www.canadianminingjournal.com