Braidy Industries, Inc. and En+ Group plc, signed an LOI for a $200 million investment from UC Rusal for Braidy’s planned Atlas aluminum rolling mill in Ashland, Kentucky. In exchange for its investment, Rusal will obtain a 40% share in the project and will serve as Braidy’s exclusive supplier of low-carbon aluminum. This partnership enables Braidy Industries to become the first U.S. rolled products aluminum sheet producer to use 100% low-carbon inputs from inception, says Braidy.
“In 2021, Braidy Atlas will make the largest order for primary aluminum rolling slab worldwide. This partnership assures that Braidy’s requirements will be met with the newest high-quality and low-carbon capacity. The bottom line is that without Rusal we could not build an environmentally-conscious mill of this scale. We enter the market with the perfect customer proposition – low cost, high quality, and low carbon is the future of aluminum,” said Braidy chairman and CEO Craig Bouchard.
This will be the world’s largest order for one mill of high-quality, pre-alloyed and low-carbon primary aluminum slabs. Braidy will be the first North American company to contract Rusal’s premier ALLOW-branded (certified low-carbon) aluminum slabs and P1020 as its exclusive primary inputs. Rusal will supply aluminum both in slab and as primary metal fort the new rolling mill from its Taishet smelter currently under construction in Siberia.
“The 10-year supply contract between Braidy Atlas and Rusal represents the world’s largest low-carbon primary aluminum slab order for a single mill. The contract will enable Braidy Atlas to have a competitive advantage in terms of cost, quality and sustainability, while providing a market value of over $5 billion to Rusal,” said Jorge Vazquez, founder and managing director of HARBOR Aluminum Intelligence.
The Braidy Atlas mill will be the first U.S. greenfield rolling mill in 37 years. It is set to create 1,500 construction jobs, 650 new permanent advanced manufacturing jobs in Appalachia and approximately 3,600 additional jobs in the surrounding communities.