Rio Tinto Secures Bell Bay Aluminium Operations Through 2031

Rio Tinto (RIO ), the Tasmanian Government and the Australian Government have reached an agreement to keep the Bell Bay Aluminium smelter in northern Tasmania operating through the end of 2031, Rio Tinto announced in a release dated 1 October 2026.

Under the arrangements, Hydro Tasmania, the state’s publicly owned electricity generator, will continue supplying electricity to Bell Bay Aluminium until 31 December 2031, and the Australian and Tasmanian Governments will provide additional support to continue operations as Tasmania’s energy system evolves. The release did not disclose the amount or form of that support. Rio Tinto said the additional support will help maintain the smelter’s international competitiveness and its ongoing contribution to the Tasmanian economy. Bell Bay’s current power supply arrangement with Hydro Tasmania ends on 31 December 2026.

“These agreements will provide Bell Bay Aluminium with an operating pathway through to 2031, and increased certainty for our people, suppliers and the northern Tasmanian community,” Rio Tinto Aluminium & Lithium Chief Executive Jérôme Pécresse said. Pécresse said the smelter has been part of Tasmania’s heritage for 71 years, pointing to the jobs, exports and economic value it creates for the state, and that the agreements allow the operation to continue safely delivering high-quality aluminium products to customers in Australia and around the world. He thanked the Tasmanian and Australian Governments, Hydro Tasmania and the smelter’s workers for their part in securing the outcome.

Smelter Profile and Economic Footprint

Bell Bay Aluminium is wholly owned by Rio Tinto and began operating in 1955 as the first aluminium smelter in the Southern Hemisphere. According to the company, the plant produces about 190,000 tonnes of aluminium a year, supports about 550 full-time employees and indirectly supports more than 1,200 jobs, and spends about 260 million Australian dollars annually with 180 suppliers. Rio Tinto said its integrated Australian aluminium production chain of bauxite mines, alumina refineries and aluminium smelters employs more than 5,000 people directly and supports thousands more Australian livelihoods.

Negotiations Leading to the Agreement

The 2031 arrangements follow an interim power deal struck in November 2025 and subsequent negotiations among the company, the generator and the two governments over the smelter’s electricity supply. In a 5 November 2025 press conference, Australian Minister for Industry and Innovation Tim Ayres welcomed a deal between Rio Tinto and Hydro Tasmania extending their power purchasing agreement for 12 months. Ayres said the period should be used to deliver a long-term future for the facility on a 10- and 15-year horizon underpinned by a credible and competitive power purchasing agreement. He described the site as supporting 550 local jobs and 300 local businesses, and said the government’s Green Aluminium Production Credit remained in design, with settings intended to support future investment in aluminium capability and renewable energy.

A Tasmanian government release dated 6 November 2025 said the in-principle 12-month power agreement secured the smelter’s immediate future and allowed time to work with the company and the federal government on a long-term plan. Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the smelter directly employs more than 550 people and supports hundreds more through a supply chain of almost 300 local businesses, and described it as one of Australia’s greenest smelters. Minister for Energy and Renewables Nick Duigan said the smelter injects 700 million Australian dollars of economic activity into Tasmania each year, that Hydro Tasmania had negotiated in good faith, and that he expected a competitive, commercial energy price consistent with the generator’s Charter obligations to put Tasmanian jobs and the economy first. Duigan said federal government support was necessary to give the smelter a sustainable operating trajectory alongside a new long-term energy arrangement with Hydro Tasmania.

On 28 July 2026, Hydro Tasmania said the price it had offered was as low as it could go without becoming uncommercial and that a gap remained between that offer and the price Rio Tinto was prepared to pay. The generator said additional government support might be required to bridge the gap, noting such support had been provided for mainland aluminium smelters, and cited its obligations under its Ministerial Charter and the Government Business Enterprises Act to operate commercially and run as a sustainable business.

In a 29 September 2026 interview with ABC Northern Tasmania, Ayres said the Albanese and Rockliff governments were working to secure the facility and that he had held face-to-face meetings in North East Tasmania with the Premier and Rio Tinto’s leadership. He said about 500 jobs rely on the facility and that the discussions had a “very broad scope,” covering everything required to deliver certainty over the coming years. Ayres described the smelter as part of an end-to-end Australian aluminium supply chain running from bauxite mining through alumina refining and aluminium metal production to building and advanced manufacturing products.