Rio Tinto gained full control of operations at Queensland Alumina Limited (QAL) following the latest wave of anti-Russian sanctions from the Australian administration.
The Australian Government imposed a ban on all exports of aluminium ores and alumina to Russia in a wave of sanctions against the country to protest its invasion of neighbouring state Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
“Rio Tinto has taken on 100% of the capacity and governance of Queensland Alumina Limited until further notice,” said a spokesperson for Rio Tinto.
Rio Tinto holds an 80% stake in QAL, alongside Russian aluminium producer Rusal, which owns the other 20% of the company.
Rusal was founded by Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska, who maintains an interest in the group through Rusal’s parent company EN+ Group, which is listed in London.
Rusal has not released a comment on Rio Tinto’s update at the time of writing.
Rio Tinto shares were up 0.2% to 118.9 AUD in late morning trading on Friday.
