Alcoa will cut 6,700 workers

sunny

ALUMINUM producer Alcoa Inc said it will shed 6,700 jobs as part of a restructuring program designed to improve profits and efficiency.
6 `. f1 H$ D& n! z( g4 I3 L
The Pittsburgh-based company also said on Tuesday it agreed to join its soft alloy extrusion business with the Sapa Group, part of Norway's Orkla ASA, in a joint venture the two firms intend to take public.
: P/ ~, z6 Q) t$ ~
1 q+ K$ A7 t- g* qThe new company, which will be majority owned by Orkla and operated by Sapa, is expected to be created by the end of the first quarter, pending government approval.
; \3 n3 o2 }4 ^0 u+ h
" D; d( J1 d- @Alcoa's soft alloy extrusion business has about 6,400 employees at 22 plants in eight countries. It had shipments of 585,000 metric tons and revenue of US$2.1 billion in 2005. An additional three soft alloy plants not included in the venture will be sold, the company said.
( Y% Q- s* e. `, X1 l0 H$ Z
0 q5 `0 X2 t% h" d1 E$ i9 mSapa's smaller soft alloy business employs about 6,000 people at 18 facilities in 12 countries and shipped 275,000 metric tons for revenue of US$1.3 billion.