Alcoa promotes new Australian boss to run global operations

The boss of Alcoa Australia, Matt Reed, has been promoted to lead the US miner’s global operations from his Perth base after just seven months with the aluminium specialist.

Reed took charge of Alcoa’s WA bauxite mines and alumina refineries and a Victorian aluminium smelter in June after two years running the operations of South Australian miner Oz Minerals, which BHP took over this year.

Matt Reed joined Alcoa Australia in June after BHP took over his former employer Oz MineralsCredit: Tony McDonough

On Thursday, Alcoa announced Reed would become its chief operations officer and an executive vice president from January 1, 2024.

Reed will replace Bill Oplinger, who became Alcoa chief executive in September. He will be responsible for production, costs, safety and environmental management for Alcoa’s operations in the United States, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Norway, Spain, Saudi Arabia and Guinea.

Oplinger said Reed was a strong leader who would help drive a high-performance culture.

“He will build on the work he’s already accomplished, driving increased stability while successfully managing a range of complex initiatives,” Oplinger said.

When Reed arrived at Alcoa it was reeling from revelations that its large-scale clearing of WA jarrah forests endangered Perth water supplies and after 60 years of mining in the state it had not fully rehabilitated any of the 28,000 hectares of forest it had cleared.

Approvals for clearing more forest had slowed in the past few years due to concerns that after heavy rainfall, sediment could wash into Serpentine Dam and contaminate Perth’s largest source of drinking water.

Last week Alcoa had a major win when the state government allowed it to clear up to 800 hectares of forest a year subject to some conditions protecting the water supply. The arrangement will remain in place while the independent Environmental Protection Authority assesses Alcoa’s mining.

Alcoa’s share price rose 24 per cent on the news from WA but is still down 38 per cent since January when Alcoa first told Wall Street of its regulatory approval problems in WA where it sources more than 70 per cent of its bauxite and alumina.

Alcoa’s $US5.6 billion ($8.25 billion) market capitalisation is less than the $US6.4 billion BHP paid for Oz Minerals when Reed was group operations executive there.

Alcoa will appoint an interim vice president for Australian operations in January and name a permanent replacement for Reed after a competitive search process.

Restriction on clearing jarrah forests at Alcoa’s Huntly mine that supplies its Pinjarra and Kwinana alumina refineries has forced the miner to use lower-grade bauxite that has increased costs and reduced production of alumina.

Alcoa expects the situation that is costing it about $US45 million ($66 million) a quarter will last until 2027.

In October Oplinger told investors that the Kwinana refinery, already operating at 20 per cent below its full capacity, could be closed.

“Kwinana is a marginal asset at this point, we’ll consider options on the table, including curtailment and closure,” he said.

Alcoa’s Australian operations and some of its other non-US assets are owned in a joint venture with ASX-listed Alumina Limited.

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