Participation in Feasibility Study for Low-Carbon Aluminium Project in Finland

Mitsubishi Corporation (“MC”) will conduct a feasibility study for the Arctial Low-Carbon Aluminium Project ("the Project") in Finland jointly with Rio Tinto (Headquarters: UK and Australia, resource company), Fortum (Headquarters: Finland, power company), Finnish Industry Investment (“Tesi”) (Headquarters: Finland, state-owned industry investment company), and Vargas Holding (“Vargas”) (Headquarters: Sweden, Investment fund).

The Project is a primary aluminium manufacturing project using CO2-free electricity and is the first new project in Europe in more than 30 years. The feasibility study will comprehensively assess the financial and technical aspects of the Project as well as its economic, social and environmental impacts. As part of this feasibility study, the terms and conditions of electricity procurement will be negotiated with the Finnish power company Fortum, which has abundant CO2-free electricity. Leading aluminium producer Rio Tinto will provide state-of-the-art aluminium production technology for the Project. In addition to contributing funds for the feasibility study, MC will contribute to the feasibility assessment based on its investment and management track record in the aluminium business and its knowledge gained through its global aluminium trading activities.

Aluminium is a critical material widely used in automobiles, aircraft, renewable energy infrastructure such as solar panels and power lines, and packaging due to its light weight, high conductivity, and recyclability. Aluminium is expected to play a crucial role in decarbonization, electrification, and a circular economy, leading to an anticipated increase in demand for aluminium in the medium to long term. Given the high electricity consumption during aluminium production, there is a growing demand for low-carbon aluminium produced using electricity with low CO2 emissions. However, the global supply capacity for low-carbon aluminium is limited and is expected to become increasingly scarce.

In MC’s "Midterm Corporate Strategy 2024" announced in May 2022, MC identified investments related to Energy Transformation (EX) as one of its growth strategies, and this participation in the feasibility study is positioned as part of that strategy. MC will continue to work on securing and stably supplying metal resources that contribute to electrification, including aluminium, to realize a decarbonized society.