New Day Aluminium edges out ARG International to win auction for Noranda’s upstream assets

<p>New Day Aluminium has edged out ARG International AG in competitive bidding for the remaining upstream assets of US-based producer Noranda Aluminum, according to a court filing Thursday. ARG International has recently bought Noranda's idled, 263,000 mt/year New Madrid primary aluminium smelter in south-eastern Missouri.<br /><br />New Day was the stalking horse bidder in the auction that began on Tuesday at Noranda's lead attorneys' offices in New York. The firm made a final offer of US$24.3 million, up $2.93 million from its previous proposal of $21.5 million, and won the auction. New Day's offer was $430,000 above the final bid of $24 million made by Stockholm-based ARG. <br /><br /><img style="vertical-align: middle; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/Noranda(2).jpg" alt="News" width="490" height="296" /><br /><br />According to the official sources, Noranda will ask the US Bankruptcy Court Judge Barry Schermer to approve the sale of its 1.2 million metric tons per annum Gramercy alumina refinery and St. Ann bauxite mining operation in Jamaica to New Day. On getting approval Noranda will close the book on the disposition of its most valuable aluminium upstream and value-added division assets. <br /><br />The Franklin, Tennessee-based aluminium producer had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on February 8, but since then has been looking for bidders to sell off its aluminium upstream and downstream assets and close all its operations for good. <br /><br />{googleAdsense}<br /><br />Granges, the leading global supplier of rolled products for brazed aluminium heat exchangers based in Switzerland, acquired Noranda's downstream business, comprising three aluminium rolling mills in Tennessee, Arkansas and North Carolina, with combined annual capacity of 495 million pounds, in August for $324.2 million.</p>