MOSCOW, Dec 15 (Reuters) – A Russian court has ruled in favor of Rusal in the aluminum giant’s 104.75 billion ruble ($1.32 billion) lawsuit against global mining and metals company Rio Tinto, according to court documents.
The ruling intensifies a “legal battle over a joint alumina refinery in Queensland, Australia, of which Rio took exclusive control” after Australia imposed sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine.
The lawsuit was heard behind closed doors and its details have not been revealed. Rusal declined to comment. Rio Tinto was not immediately available.
RUSAL LOOKS FOR SUPPLIES FROM OTHER PLACES
Rusal filed the suit after losing a case in Australia in 2024 to recover its rights to a 20% stake in the Queensland Alumina Ltd (QAL) alumina plant.
Australia responded to the launch of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine in 2022 with sweeping sanctions, including a ban on exports of the raw material aluminum to Russia.
Shortly after the ban was imposed in March 2022, Rio took sole control of QAL, sidelining Rusal and cutting its access to the refinery’s output. Rio owns 80% of the refinery.
Rio has no assets in Russia, but defendants in Rusal’s lawsuit include Rio subsidiaries that own 66% of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit in Mongolia, a country Moscow calls “friendly” and which has not imposed sanctions on Russia.
Australia’s alumina export ban and suspension of operations at a refinery in Ukraine prompted Rusal to seek additional supplies from China and other countries to fuel its aluminum smelters in Siberia in 2022.
In 2025, Rusal said it would gradually acquire up to a 50% stake in an alumina plant in India. It also announced plans to build a new 4.8 million tonne alumina plant in Russia’s Leningrad region in 2028.
In 2023, Rusal acquired a 30% stake in a Chinese alumina refinery to support feedstock from its assets in Russia, Ireland, Jamaica and Guinea.
(1 dollar = 79.2000 rubles)
(Reporting by Anastasia Lyrchikova in Moscow. Additional reporting by Clara Denina in London. Editing by Mark Potter)