Glencore's former No. 2 aluminum trader buys bankrupt U.S. smelter

Noranda Aluminum Holding

01/10/2016 01:43

Sept 30 (Reuters) - Swiss-based ARG International AG, the 
trading house set up by Glencore Plc's  GLEN.L  former No. 2 
aluminum trader Matt Lucke, is buying a bankrupt smelter in the 
United States, its first acquisition since its founding nearly 
three years ago.   
    Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp  NORNQ.PK  said on Friday it 
sold its 263,000 tonne-per-year New Madrid primary aluminum 
smelter in Missouri to ARG for $13.7 million in a court-approved 
auction. Noranda filed for bankruptcy in February after 
struggling with a sharp downturn in aluminum prices  CMAL3  amid 
a global glut.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL3N15N320  
    Lucke founded ARG six months after leaving Glencore in the 
summer of 2013 alongside chief Gary Fegel, in a shakeup of the 
world's biggest aluminum trading desk. Many of Glencore's 
executives became paper millionaires after the firm's stock 
market listing in 2011.   
    At Glencore, Lucke helped run Century Aluminum  CENX.O , 
which was founded by Glencore and now counts the Swiss trade 
house and miner as its largest shareholder. Century is a rival 
of Noranda and operates three smelters in the United States and 
one in Iceland.   
    There are few examples in the metals industry of traders not 
backed by large companies buying production facilities, but it 
has happened with oil. Neal Shear, who helped build Morgan 
Stanley's  MS.N  commodity trading business during 25 years at 
the bank, purchased the aging Come by Chance refinery in 
Newfoundland alongside veteran trader Kaushik Amin. 
    Lucke's purchase represents a bet on one of the few 
remaining U.S. smelters as producers struggle with low metal 
prices, high electricity costs and stiff competition from 
lower-cost producing regions like the Middle East and China.  
    The closure of many smelters means the United States, one of 
the world's biggest consumers of the metal, has to import more, 
helping to underpin premiums, which have remained fairly firm 
over the past year.  
 
 (Reporting By Luc Cohen; Editing by Cynthia Osterman) 
 ((luc.cohen@thomsonreuters.com; +1-917 509 6877; Reuters 
Messaging: luc.cohen.thomsonreuters@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: BANKRUPTCY NORANDA/ALUMINUM