U.S. aluminum producer reports record quarter

After weeks of speculation, and months of poor automotive news on the North American front, Alcoa, one of the largest producers of aluminum for the car industry, has released its quarterly earnings, with some promising results.
Boosted by high commodity process, Alcoa, located in Pittsburgh, reported a doubling in quarterly profits, and has since, seen its share price rise to new 52 week highs.
Chairman Alain Belda said: “Our upstream alumina and primary metals businesses, as well as our downstream engineered solutions – led by truck wheels, investment castings, forged products and fasteners.”
The earnings report came hot on the heels of the announcement of a joint venture with a large Chinese firm located near Shanghai.
According to the release, Alcoa will pay about U.S. $95 million, for a 70 per cent stake in the Chinese firm currently under the Shanxi Yuncheng Engraving Group, and will begin supplying 50,000 metric tons of rolled metal sheet, mostly to Asian auto makers.