Rio Tinto to Supply Low-Carbon Aluminum for Amazon Data Center Build-Out
Cable maker Prysmian and miner Rio Tinto have agreed to work together to deliver low-carbon aluminum for a data center project tied to Amazon, according to an announcement from the companies. The partnership pairs Prysmian’s cabling and conductor manufacturing with Rio Tinto’s lower-emission aluminum output, aimed at serving the power-hungry infrastructure behind cloud computing expansion.
The deal underscores how data center operators are increasingly looking to source materials with smaller carbon footprints, as electricity demand from AI and cloud workloads accelerates. Aluminum is a core input for the busbars, cabling, and conductors that carry power through large-scale data facilities, making the metal a meaningful lever in reducing the embodied emissions of new builds.
Rio Tinto has positioned itself among the larger producers of aluminum made with lower-carbon hydropower, particularly through its Canadian smelting operations. The company’s Aluminium segment sits alongside its dominant iron ore business in Western Australia and its growing copper portfolio.
Shares of Rio Tinto Group traded at $102.03, down 0.75% from a prior close of $102.80, giving the company a market capitalization of roughly $165.9 billion. Rio Tinto is classified in the Basic Materials sector within the industrial metals and mining industry.
For Prysmian, the world’s largest cable manufacturer, securing predictable access to responsibly produced aluminum supports its own supply-chain decarbonization targets and its push into grid and data center connectivity products. For Rio Tinto, arrangements of this kind provide demand visibility for its premium low-carbon metal, which typically commands attention from buyers with sustainability commitments.
The announcement arrives amid a broader scramble among metals producers to align with data center and grid builders, as transmission upgrades and power infrastructure become bottlenecks for AI-driven expansion. Aluminum, copper, and steel suppliers have all sought partnerships that tie their products directly to hyperscale construction pipelines.
Neither the companies’ release specified the volume of aluminum involved nor the timeline for deliveries, and the financial terms of the arrangement were not disclosed.
What to watch
- Rio Tinto’s upcoming quarterly production reports for updates on Aluminium segment output and shipments.
- Any disclosure of volumes, delivery schedules, or contract duration for the Prysmian partnership.
- Aluminum pricing trends, which influence revenue for Rio Tinto’s smelting business.
- Additional supply agreements linking low-carbon metals producers to data center and grid projects.
Source: original release
