Venezuela prepares first major aluminum shipment to US in years

Venezuela is preparing to ship about 15,000 metric tons of aluminum to the United States, the first significant flow of the metal to the country in years, under a deal involving Mercuria Energy Group and Heeney Capital.

The cargo, produced by state-owned Venalum, could leave Venezuela as soon as Friday, according to people familiar with the plans. At current prices, the shipment would be worth almost $50 million.

Mercuria and Heeney are also planning a major investment in Venezuela’s Choco gold mine. Heeney, working with Mercuria, plans to invest as much as $1 billion over 30 years and bring production from the mine to the US, according to Samantha Carl-Yoder, a consultant representing the New York investment firm.

The agreements extend a broader commercial opening into Venezuela’s mining and metals sector after years of economic and diplomatic isolation. The reopening initially centered on the country’s oil reserves.

Mercuria and Heeney are separately negotiating with Venezuelan authorities to operate the Venalum smelter. Built in the 1970s by state-owned CVG and a Japanese consortium, the facility once had annual capacity of 430,000 tons but now runs at a fraction of that level after chronic power shortages and years of underinvestment.

The aluminum cargo would represent several weeks of production at Venalum’s reduced operating rate. It would be a small share of US consumption but carries symbolic weight as the first major Venezuelan aluminum shipment to the US in years.

The Choco complex in Bolívar state includes the former Choco 10 mine, which the Venezuelan government took over more than a decade ago. 

The operation has substantial resources but has struggled with declining production and a lack of investment. The White House, Interior Department, Mercuria, Venalum and Venezuela’s Information Ministry did not immediately comment.