Glencore Buying Aluminum Smelter

Glencore International, a Swiss-based commodity trading company, agreed to purchase the bankrupt Vanalco smelter in Vancouver, Wash. For $24.25 million.

Glencore already has an aluminum smelter in Columbia Falls, Mt., which recently restarted limited production. This smelter, which has five pot lines, has opened one line, and expects to open a second pot line in the near future. Production capacity there is 168,000 tons a year.

An April 11 court hearing is scheduled to approve the deal, and Vanalco's creditors hope to close the sale immediately afterward.

Vanalco began shutting down in June 2000 after skyrocketing electricity prices made it too expensive to operate the smelter. The smelter has a capacity of about 115,000 tons of aluminum a year.