The names sound like trading rooms in Geneva and London, but the deal lands directly in the pocket of whoever exchanges USDT for bolรญvares in Puerto Ordaz, Maracaibo, or Caracas. Bloomberg revealed that **Mercuria Energy Group and Glencore** are holding separate talks with the Executive Branch to get into the operation of **Venalum**, the countryโs largest aluminum smelter, located in the industrial hub of Puerto Ordaz, Bolรญvar state.
Venalum, controlled by the State, once had installed capacity of about **430,000 metric tons per year of primary aluminum**. Today it produces only a fraction of that, battered by years without investment, power outages, grid failures, and an industrial decline that has already lasted more than a decade. The fact that two of the worldโs biggest commodity traders sit down at the table is no small matter.