Rio Tinto and Giampaolo Group join forces

Rio Tinto and Giampaolo Group join forces to manufacture recycled aluminum products

Rio Tinto and Giampaolo Group, one of North America’s largest fully integrated metals management companies, have signed an agreement to form a joint venture to manufacture and market recycled aluminum products. The transaction reflects the joint venture partners’ shared commitment to meet the growing demand for low-carbon aluminum as a key material in the energy transition.

Specifically, under the terms of the agreements, Rio Tinto will purchase 50% of Giampaolo Group’s wholly owned Matalco for $700 million, subject to normal and necessary adjustments at closing.

On the other hand, Matalco is one of the leading aluminum recyclers in North America. They have six plants located in the United States and one more in Canada. This company has achieved the capacity to manufacture nearly 900,000 tons of recycled aluminum per year.

Once the transaction is completed, Triple M Metal (a subsidiary of the Giampaolo Group) will take over recyclable supplies while Rio Tinto will be responsible for sales and promotion of Matalco products. Finally, the management team led by Matalco will continue to be responsible for the joint operation.

To ensure that the expectations of the new joint venture are met, a management team will oversee aspects such as executive appointments, security and ESG standards from Matalco. The members of such an organization shall have equal power through an equitable Board of Directors.

In an effort to address global concerns about climate change, Rio Tinto recently partnered with Matalco to begin producing environmentally friendly aluminum products. Together, these two companies seek to provide cost-effective solutions that help customers reduce their carbon emissions. In addition, recycled aluminum is expected to be in high demand in the United States by 2028, accounting for more than half of the demand.

Jakob Stausholm, Rio Tinto’s CEO, said the company would be investing in recycling in order to offer better ways to source low-carbon materials. “Investing in recycling is part of our drive to find better ways to deliver the low-carbon materials the world needs and provides a natural extension of our industry-leading primary aluminum business. We look forward to offering customers aluminum solutions that meet their needs for low-carbon primary and recycled materials in partnership with Giampaolo Group, a leading recycled material supplier in North America,” the executive added.

For his part, Chris Galifi, the leader of Giampaolo Group Inc. was enthusiastic about the partnership with Rio Tinto, a major aluminum manufacturing company. We have consistently invested within the recycling supply chain and grown Matalco’s business over the past 18 years, based on our strategy focused on a circular economy, and we are extremely proud of the high-quality, low-carbon products we produce. Giampaolo Group and Rio Tinto have an excellent track record of building successful collaborations to unlock value for customers and we look forward to joining forces to combine our complementary expertise in the recycling value chain with their experience and track record of innovation in the primary aluminum industry,” he concluded.