Governments should nationalise smelters to compete with China, says Trafigura

‘Critical infrastructure and smelting capacity is a national security issue and therefore needs to probably have some sort of government ownership or significant government support for it,’ says Trafigura chief executive Richard Holtum

Trafigura’s new chief executive, Richard Holtum, called for western governments to nationalise parts of the metals processing industry in order to compete with China as he placed the company’s struggling Nyrstar zinc smelter in Australia under strategic review.

Speaking in an onstage interview at the FT Commodities Global Summit, the boss of the Swiss trading house said minerals processing facilities, such as smelters, should be considered “a national security issue”, adding that unless governments provided more support, the west would never reduce its dependence on China for supplies of critical minerals.