Glencore looks to purchase Pacific Aluminium from Rio Tinto

American firm Century Aluminium and Glencore have been linked to the purchase of Rio Tinto's Pacific Aluminium business, which according to a current listing at Deutsche Bank, could go for as much as $1bn.

Rio Tinto almost sold the division in 2015 through Credit Suisse, but was unable to find a party to pony up the 10 figure sum commanded by the valuation. It is believed that Rio will likely settle for less this time as it looks to lighten its portfolio.

The Pacific Aluminium wing of Rio Tinto operates smelters in Australia and New Zealand that produce more than 210,000 tonnes of aluminium per annum.

Century Aluminium is a global aluminium producer and operates aluminium facilities in the US and Iceland.

Glencore recently bought Rio’s Coal and Allied business for AUD 3.5bn.

As of 1020 BST, Glencore shares had remained relatively stable with a slight 1.65% uptick to 327.30p.