<article><p class="lead">Russian primary aluminum smelter Rusal has signed a letter of intent to provide funding and supply metal to prospective Kentucky-based rolling mill Braidy Industries.</p><p>Rusal will receive a 40pc stake in the company as part of its investment and Braidy will raise the rest of the project money from "several financial institutions."</p><p>The smelter will provide rolling slab and primary products to Braidy from its Taishet plant in Siberia, which is under construction.</p><p>The agreement comes a month after Braidy announced it would raise $1.2bn in public debt by listing itself on the NASDAQ. The final cost of the mill is expected to be $1.6bn.</p><p>In initial Security and Exchange Commission filings last September the mill disclosed that its funding would come from a $15mn loan from the state of Kentucky, $500mn in potential export tax credits from Germany and a potential $1bn loan from the department of energy. </p><p>Braidy aims to be operational in early 2021 and will produce 500,000 t/yr of hot-rolled coil and 300,000 t/yr of fully finished, cold-rolled coil. It will supply the US aluminum automotive body sheet market, competing with other domestic players such as Arconic, Tri-Arrows, Novelis and Constellium.</p></article>
