• Russian aluminium manufacturer Rusal (RUAL.MM) has filed a lawsuit against Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) to reclaim its 20 percent share of alumina produced at a jointly-owned refinery in Queensland.
• According to documents in the Australian Federal Court, Rusal claimed Rio had no right to take full control of Queensland Alumina Ltd (QAL) after Australia imposed sanctions on Russia for its actions in Ukraine.
• QAL is a joint-venture alumina refinery based in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia.

Russian aluminium manufacturer Rusal (RUAL.MM) has filed a lawsuit against Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) to reclaim its 20 percent share of alumina produced at a jointly-owned refinery in Queensland.

According to documents in the Australian Federal Court, Rusal claimed Rio had no right to take full control of Queensland Alumina Ltd (QAL) after Australia imposed sanctions on Russia for its actions in Ukraine.

Rio declined to comment on the report, while Rusal could not be reached for comment right away.

QAL is a joint-venture alumina refinery based in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia. Rio owns 80% of the refinery, with the remaining 20% owned by Rusal, the world’s second-largest aluminium producer.

According to the report, Rusal claimed that Rio inadvertently activated contractual clauses to assume control of QAL, essentially robbing it of its proportional share of the refinery’s output, which amounts to around 750,000 tonnes of alumina per year.

Under an Australian embargo on exporting alumina and aluminium ores, including bauxite, to Russia, Rio removed Rusal’s access to production and management at the refinery in April.

It also imposed penalties on Oleg Deripaska, a Russian billionaire and former president of Rusal who owns a share in the refinery.

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