The Ma’aden joint venture—a fully integrated aluminum complex—will be one of the major
assets included in a namesake ’upstream’ company when Alcoa completes its planned
separation into two independent companies. (Photo: Alcoa)

After the separation, the upstream company will operate under the Alcoa name. Alcoa is currently calling the downstream company the Value-Add Company. This company will be given a new name prior to closing of the separation, which Alcoa expects to take place in the second half of 2016.

Full management teams and boards for both companies will be named in the months leading up to the launch of the two companies.

Alcoa’s bauxite mining and alumina refining operations are for the most part located in close proximity to each other, with key production centers in Western Australia and Brazil. It has smelters in Australia, Brazil, Canada, the United States, Iceland, Norway and Spain. Alcoa also participates in a joint venture with Ma’aden in Saudi Arabia that has developed an advanced, fully integrated aluminum complex that includes a bauxite mine, alumina refinery, smelter and rolling mill.

Alcoa has 17 casthouses located throughout the world in close proximity to its customers.

Alcoa also has 1,550 megawatts (MW) of power generation capacity, with assets located in North and South America and Australia. Approximately 30% of this capacity is currently directed toward metal production at Alcoa smelters, with production from the remaining 70% sold into regional power grids.

The upstream company’s footprint will include 64 facilities worldwide, with approximately 17,000 employees. Its proforma revenues for the 12 months through June 30, 2015, totaled $13.2 billion.

Regarding Alcoa’s upstream business, Chairman and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said, “After steering the company through the deep downturn of 2008, we immediately went to work reshaping the portfolio. We have repositioned the upstream business; we have an enviable bauxite position and are unrivalled in alumina; we have optimized aluminum, flexed our energy assets, and turned our casthouses into a commercial success story. The upstream business is now built to win throughout the cycle.”

After the separation, the Value-Add Company will provide multimaterial products and solutions from 157 operating locations, involving approximately 43,000 employees. Its pro-forma revenues for the 12 months through June 30 totaled $14.5 billion. Approximately 40% of these revenues came from the aerospace market. The automotive, commercial transportation, architectural, and packaging markets also provide important end-use applications for the company’s products.