Keeping Aluminum in Allied Hands: The Stakes of Alcoa’s South Africa Bet
Last week, U.S. aluminum giant Alcoa announced a $5.6 billion acquisition of South32’s aluminum value chain assets, including South Africa’s Hillside Aluminium Smelter—the largest aluminum smelter in the Southern Hemisphere. The transaction marks the largest new U.S. mining supply chain investment in South Africa in many years and will give the United States its first…