Rio Tinto Group, the world’s third- largest mining company, sold its stake in an aluminum smelter in China to a partner to help reduce debt, Bloomberg reported. Qingtongxia Aluminium will buy Rio Tinto’s 50% stake in the venture. Rio Tinto is cutting capital spending and selling assets to pay 38.9 USD billion of debt, mostly acquired when it took over Alcan Inc. last year, as aluminum prices slide. "The deal may be valued at several hundred million yuan," Wan Ling, a Beijing-based analyst at CRU International Ltd., said "Rio may also sell its packaging and engineering product assets in China as part of a global strategy."
