Alcoa Inc, the company that helped create the aluminum industry more than a century ago, is reinventing itself as a manufacturer of specialized components for aerospace and automotive customers, including some that contain no aluminum at all. The company's deal for jet engine part maker Firth Rixson, which uses little aluminum, is its biggest move yet to escape the terrible primary aluminum market by crafting the parts its customers need, even if they are made of nickel or titanium.It announced the proposed $2.85 billion deal to purchase Firth Rixson earlier on Thursday.Alcoa talks constantly about expanding its downstream businesses, which sell truck wheels, aircraft parts and other goods. Now it is rebranding itself in ways that would have seemed unthinkable just a few years ago."We are really material-agnostic," Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld said in an interview on Thursday. "We love, internally, that we have fights over what is the right material, in front of our customers, together with our customers."
Alcoa Inc. (Alcoa) is engaged in lightweight metals, products and solutions. Shares of AA traded higher by 2.68% or $0.39/share to $14.94. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $7.63 and as high as $14.79. On average, 18118100 shares of AA exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 28876480.
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