British billionaire in talks to buy Alcoa’s Portland aluminium smelter
Sanjeev Gupta a British billionaire known for his purchasing of South Australia’s doomed Whyalla steelworks and saving it from potential closure, is now back in the headlines as he is considering buying the Portland aluminium smelter in Victoria. Part of an international expansion that looks to save hundreds of jobs and a regional community.
The smelter is currently run by Alcoa an American based company, due to poor performance speculation has been that over time a shutdown would not only see a huge amount of job loss but it would also impact the power grid that provides approximately ten percent of Victoria’s electricity.
Ben Davis the branch secretary of AWU Victoria spoke on ABC Radio Ballarat this morning saying “If Sanjeev Gupta is keen on buying the aluminium smelter in Portland we would of course welcome that, the more options on the table to keep the smelter running the better.”
In response to a question on whether Sanjeev Gupta has been successful in his approach of buying up and making renewable energy Ben Davis said “The move to renewable energy is difficult, Renewables today can’t power the smelter in Victoria as there is not enough capacity, so it is a longer term project, and anyone who used to work for Arrium Steel in Whyalla, and Laverton, and the like would agree that the business is in much better shape than it was a few years ago.”
The smelter has received $230 million from state and federal governments during its struggle to stay open, but still posted a significant loss in 2019. According to an article in today’s Age Newspaper, Mr Gupta’s Liberty House Group has been in early discussions with Alcoa and other major stakeholders, including the Victorian government, about purchasing the plant as part of the steel giant’s growing push into the aluminium sector.
Mr Davis praised the workers at Alcoa “they’ve been remarkable in their forbearance in 2016 in the last power deal saga, and now they are going through it all again, they’ve been remarkably focused and on task.” He continued on saying “The key to the future of Alcoa Portland is affordable power, if they can get in any way shape or form by selling, by remaining through the current provider or elsewhere with a power deal that is competitive, then the place can stay open indefinitely, it quite simply comes down to the cost of power.”
