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Rio Tinto Alcan is the global leader in the aluminium business and one of five product groups operated by Rio Tinto, a leading international mining group.
In October 2007, Rio Tinto acquired Alcan Inc. for US$38.1 billion - the biggest ever mining sector takeover up to that time. Rio Tinto Alcan emerged out of Alcan Inc. and Rio Tinto's existing aluminium business.
The combination has created the world number one producer of bauxite and aluminium. It also has a number of projects in place to secure the leading position in alumina production.
Rio Tinto Alcan owns, operates or has interests in seven bauxite mines and deposits, six alumina refineries, six specialty aluminas plants, 26 aluminium smelters and 13 power generating plants, nine of them hydroelectric.
Within its Engineered Products business group, Rio Tinto Alcan owns 120 production facilities, services centres, and international network offices, covering 32 countries and regions. A fourth business group, Packaging, is set to be divested.
Rio Tinto Alcan is built around Rio Tinto's and Alcan's existing strengths worldwide, with a significant presence in Australia, Canada and France. Its global headquarters and the smelting division are located in Montreal, Canada.
The combined global bauxite and alumina business and associated research and development activities are in Brisbane, Australia, while research and development in primary aluminium is managed from Canada and undertaken in Quebec and France. The head office of Engineered Products is in Paris, France.
Business overview
Rio Tinto Alcan undertakes all stages of the aluminium production process: mining bauxite, refining bauxite into alumina and smelting alumina to produce aluminium, as well as producing a large variety of fabricated, semi-fabricated aluminium and composite products.
Management overview
Rio Tinto Alcan has an experienced management team of seven executives heading up four operating units and three staff functions. They support the group's operating business and identify opportunities for future development.
Our history
Rio Tinto's aluminium business started with Comalco in Australia in the mid-1950s. Rio Tinto bought Comalco in 2000, and the company was renamed Rio Tinto Aluminium in late 2006.
Alcan started in 1902 as Northern Aluminum Company, the Canadian subsidiary of the Pittsburgh Reduction Company (later Alcoa). It was renamed Aluminum Company of Canada in 1925 and separated from Alcoa in 1928. In 2000, algroup became a subsidiary of Alcan Aluminium Limited; in 2001, the company was renamed Alcan Inc. and in 2003 it acquired, among other companies, Pechiney of France.
Alcan and Rio Tinto Aluminium joined forces at the end of 2007 to create Rio Tinto Alcan, the new global leader in the aluminium business.
Doing business with us
Rio Tinto Aluminium has a broad business - we work with many suppliers, customers, partners, communities, governments and agencies.
Sustainable development
At Rio Tinto Alcan, we have incorporated environmental, social and economic considerations into all of our business systems and processes.