Swiss-based ARG International AG, the trading house set up by Glencore Plc's former No. 2 aluminum trader Matt Lucke, is buying a bankrupt smelter in the U.S., its first acquisition since its founding nearly three years ago, Reuters reported on Friday. Noranda Aluminum Holding Corp said on Friday that it sold its 263,000 tonne-per-year New Madrid primary aluminum smelter in Missouri to ARG for $13.7 million in a court-approved auction. Noranda filed for bankruptcy in February after struggling with a sharp downturn in aluminum prices amid a global glut. Lucke founded ARG six months after leaving Glencore in the summer of 2013 alongside chief Gary Fegel, in a shakeup of the world's biggest aluminum trading desk.
