Rusal, Glencore agree aluminium deal worth up to $16.3 bln

Russia's Rusal has approved a new long-term aluminium supply contract with Glencore worth up to $16.3 billion, it said in a Hong-Kong regulatory statement on Friday.

Swiss trader and metals producer Glencore has long been one of the main clients of Hong Kong-listed Rusal, the world's largest aluminium producer outside China. Glencore owns a stake in Rusal parent En+ Group.

The new contract is for 2020-2024 and can be extended for 2025, Rusal said. It said its board of directors in December approved the deal, which succeeds a previous contract which expired in late 2018. The contract requires approval from Rusal shareholders.

Rusal, which produced 3.8 million tonnes of aluminium in 2019, will supply up to 6.9 million tonnes of the metal to Glencore under the contract, including up to 344,760 tonnes in 2020 and up to 1.6 million tonnes per year in 2021-2024. "This agreement provides the company with significant volumes of primary aluminium sales at market price with a number of quantitative options," Rusal said in a separate comment.

Glencore declined to comment.