Alcoa

This article is about the company. For the city, see Alcoa, Tennessee. For the river, see Alcoa River. For other uses, see Alcoa (disambiguation).

Alcoa Corporation
Company typePublic
ISINUS0138721065
IndustryMetals
Founded1888; 136 years ago (1888)
FounderCharles Martin Hall
HeadquartersPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Products
RevenueDecrease US$10.55 billion (2023)
Decrease −US$584 million (2023)
Decrease −US$651 million (2023)
Total assetsDecrease US$14.16 billion (2023)
Total equityDecrease US$4.251 billion (2023)
Number of employees
13,600 (2023)
Websitealcoa.com
Footnotes / references
Financials as of December 31, 2023.
References: [1]

Alcoa Corporation (an acronym for "Aluminum Company of America") is an American industrial corporation. It is the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum.[2][3] Alcoa conducts operations in 10 countries. Alcoa is a major producer of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum, and alumina combined, through its active and growing participation in all major aspects of the industry: technology, mining, refining, smelting, fabricating, and recycling.[4]

Alcoa emerged in 1888 as the brainchild of Charles Martin Hall, with the funding of Alfred E. Hunt and Arthur Vining Davis. Alcoa was the first mass producer of aluminum. Before Alcoa's formation, aluminum was difficult to refine and, as a result, was more expensive than silver or gold.[5] In 1886, Hall discovered the Hall–Héroult process, the first inexpensive technique for refining aluminum, drastically reducing the price of aluminum while increasing its availability. Hall approached Hunt and Davis to form a company to bring his process to market; the three founded Alcoa as the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, which expanded quickly. Hunt died in 1898 after fighting in the Spanish–American War. The company changed its name to the Aluminum Company of America in 1907. Alcoa increased production by 40% during World War I and was an essential supplier of aluminum in World War II.

In the 2000s, Alcoa purchased numerous competitors, including Reynolds Group Holdings (makers of Reynolds Wrap). On November 1, 2016, Alcoa Inc. split into two entities: a new one called Alcoa Corporation, which is engaged in the mining and manufacture of raw aluminum, and the renaming of Alcoa Inc. to Arconic Inc., which processes aluminum and other metals.[6] Alcoa has been criticized for its lax environmental record, but it no longer ranks highly as one of the worst polluters in the United States.

  1. ^ "Alcoa Corporation 2023 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". sec.gov. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. February 21, 2022.
  2. ^ "The world's leading primary aluminum producing companies in 2020". Statista. 2022. Archived from the original on May 23, 2022.
  3. ^ "Alcoa". Fortune. Retrieved November 25, 2018.
  4. ^ "Almy mom coa Inc 2011 Annual Report, Form 10-K, Filing Date Feb 16, 2012" (PDF). secdatabase.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 16, 2013. Retrieved June 25, 2012.
  5. ^ Kean, Sam (July 30, 2010). "Aluminum: It Used To Be More Precious Than Gold". Slate Magazine. Retrieved February 23, 2024.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference split was invoked but never defined (see the help page).