Alcoa profit rises on higher metal prices
American aluminium-maker Alcoa has gained a huge increase in profit, this was helped by rising metal prices.
The Net profit for the three months to the end of June came in at £202m, compared with £136m in the same time frame as last year.
Aluminium sold in a range of £2,500 – £2,600 a ton on the London Metal Exchange during the second quarter. In the same quarter a year earlier it had sold for just under £2,000.
The price is still well below its record high of £3,380 per ton, which reached its peak in July 2008.
Alcoa, which the markets watch closely for a signal about the earnings period to come, said although the economic recovery is uneven, its outlook remains positive.
It reiterated its forecast that global demand for aluminium will grow by 12% this year and double by 2020.
