{"id":865236,"date":"2026-07-02T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=865236"},"modified":"2026-07-02T08:38:04","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T06:38:04","slug":"us-company-buying-the-biggest-factory-of-its-kind-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/865236\/us-company-buying-the-biggest-factory-of-its-kind-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"US company buying the biggest factory of its kind in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

US aluminium giant Alcoa has agreed to buy South32\u2019s bauxite, alumina, and aluminium business in a deal worth up to $5.6 billion (about R92 billion).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal will give it ownership of South Africa\u2019s Hillside aluminium smelter\u2014the largest primary aluminium smelter in the Southern Hemisphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transaction will see Alcoa pay $3.1 billion in cash and about $1 billion in Alcoa shares, while also taking on around $750 million in debt and lease liabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South32 could receive a further $750 million if alumina and aluminium prices exceed agreed targets over the next four years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The acquisition expands Alcoa\u2019s operations across the aluminium value chain, from bauxite mining to alumina refining and aluminium smelting, strengthening its position as one of the world’s largest producers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key part of the deal is South32\u2019s Worsley alumina refinery in Western Australia, together with the nearby bauxite mines that supply it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These assets will be integrated with Alcoa\u2019s existing Australian operations, providing the company with additional bauxite reserves as production from some of its own mines declines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The acquisition also includes aluminium assets in Brazil and South Africa but excludes South32’s idled Mozambican smelter, which remains under strategic review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For South Africa, the biggest change is the transfer of ownership of the Hillside aluminium smelter in Richards Bay, along with the idled Bayside smelter property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hillside is South Africa’s only primary aluminium smelter and the largest facility of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It plays a major role in the KwaZulu-Natal economy, supporting thousands of jobs directly and indirectly through its extensive supply chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South32 Africa chief operating officer Noel Pillay said the agreement recognises the long-term value of the operation while ensuring it remains in the hands of a specialist aluminium producer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As a leading global producer of materials across the aluminium value chain, Alcoa is well positioned to operate Hillside into the future,” Pillay said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe smelter will be operated by a dedicated aluminium producer, which will bring the benefits of its deep aluminium value chain experience to the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

End of an era for South32’s longest serving CEO<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He added that Hillside has made a significant contribution to South Africa over the past three decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past 30 years, Hillside has made a significant and meaningful contribution to the social and economic development of South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt has made a major contribution to South Africa’s economy, employed thousands of local workers, and played a key role in supporting the downstream aluminium industry. We expect this contribution to continue under Alcoa’s ownership,” he said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the transaction is completed, South32’s remaining Southern African business will consist of its manganese operations in the Northern Cape, as well as exploration activities in Botswana and Namibia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company said it intends to distribute at least half of the Alcoa shares it receives directly to its own shareholders, with the remainder available for sale. After the deal closes, South32 shareholders are expected to own about 6% of Alcoa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aluminium has also become increasingly important for power grids because it is lighter and cheaper than copper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alcoa expects the acquisition to increase its annual production capacity to 3.2 million tonnes of aluminium and 14.8 million tonnes of alumina.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deal is expected to be completed during the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also marks a major milestone for South32 as long-serving chief executive Graham Kerr steps down, with Matthew Daley taking over as CEO from 1 July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reported with Bloomberg<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US aluminium giant Alcoa has agreed to buy South Africa\u2019s Hillside aluminium smelter\u2014the largest primary aluminium smelter in the Southern Hemisphere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":865238,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[25704,853,25007],"class_list":["post-865236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-alcoa","tag-south-africa","tag-south32"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=865236"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":865240,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/865236\/revisions\/865240"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/865238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=865236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=865236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=865236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}