With a combined revenue of $21 trillion and $2.1 trillion in profits, the 2026 Fortune 500 is the definitive list of America's largest companies.

Fortune 500

AI is a major force shaping this year’s list—but it’s far from the only story.

World's Most Admired Companies

Almost $20 trillion in revenue—and a record-breaking $1.87 trillion in profits. Introducing the 2025 Fortune 500, the definitive list of the biggest companies in America.

Industries included in the sector are building materials, forest products, metals, and packaging.

Fortune Sector Leaders: Materials

The Fortune 500, in its 70th year in 2024, ranks the biggest U.S. companies by revenue.

The Fortune 500, in its 69th year in 2023, ranks the biggest U.S. companies by revenue.

Just as it dominates our economy, Big Tech now dominates Fortune’s annual ranking of corporate reputation.

This year’s Fortune 500 marks the 68th running of the list.

After a year in which humanity leaned more heavily than ever on tech giants, see which companies topped Fortune's ranking of corporate reputation.

This year’s Fortune 500 marks the 67th running of the list.

F500-2021-330-Alcoa

As the world's eighth-largest producer of aluminum, the metal manufacturing company specializes in the mining, production, and sale of the metal.

For an astounding 13th straight year, Apple claims the top spot in Fortune’s annual ranking of corporate reputation, based on a survey of almost 3,800 executives, directors, and analysts.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 66th running of the list.

F500 2020 302 Alcoa

With links to automakers, beverage providers, and an array of other manufacturers, aluminum maker Alcoa has struggled amid global trade battles and a broader economic slowdown. It slid 66 positions in this year's <em>Fortune</em> 500.

Here are the World's Most Admired Companies for 2019 as ranked in their industries. See who made the list.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 65th running of the list.

Here are the World's Most Admired Companies for 2018 as ranked in their industries. See who made the list.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 64th running of the list.

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 63rd running of the list.

Here are the World's Most Admired Companies for 2016 as ranked in their industries. See who made the list.

Business insiders have spoken: Asked which companies they most admire, more than 4,100 executives, directors, and analysts chose these top 50 All-Stars.

The world's 500 largest companies generated $31.2 trillion in revenues and $1.7 trillion in profits in 2014. Together, this year's Fortune Global 500 employ 65 million people worldwide and are represented by 36 countries.

Fortune Global 500

This year's Fortune 500 marks the 61st running of the list. Wal-Mart claims the top spot again. See who made the list.

Wal-Mart stayed on top as its sales crept closer to half-a-trillion dollars. Apple moved into the top five. And UnitedHealth Group continued its steady climb. 

Key Financials (last Fiscal Year)

Revenues ($M)

Profits ($M)

Assets ($M)

Total Stockholder Equity ($M)

Profits As A % Of

Profit as % of Revenues

Profits as % of Assets

Profits as % of Stockholder Equity

Sector

Industry

Current All-Star Rank

Previous All-Star Rank

Industry Rank

Previous Industry Rank

Overall Score

Innovation

People Management

Use of Corporate Assets

Social Responsibility

Quality of Management

Financial Soundness

Long-Term Investment Value

Quality of Products/Services

Global Competitiveness

Profit Ratios

Earnings Per Share (last Fiscal Year)

Earnings Per Share ($)

EPS % Change (from prior fiscal year)

EPS % Change (5 year annual rate)

EPS % Change (10 year annual rate)

Total Return

Total Return to Investors (last year)

Total Return to Investors (5 year, annualized)

Total Return to Investors (10 year, annualized)

Alcoa, or the Aluminum Company of America, is one of the world’s largest producers of bauxite, alumina, and aluminum, with operations spanning mining, refining, smelting, casting, and energy generation. The company became the world’s first mass producer of aluminum after founder Charles Martin Hall discovered the Hall-Héroult process, the method still used today. The company was founded in 1886. It went public in 2016 after splitting from what is now Arconic, which focuses on metals engineering and manufacturing.

Q2 2026

Q1 2026

Q4 2025

Q3 2025

Q2 2025

Q1 2025

Q4 2024

Alcoa (AA): Company Profile, Stock Price, News, Rankings

legacy

Alcoa

alcoa

Good afternoon, and welcome to the Alcoa Corporation 4th Quarter and Full Year 2024 Earnings Presentation and Conference Call. All participants will be in listen only mode. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note, this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Louis Langlois, Senior Vice President of Treasury and Capital Markets.

Thank you, and good day, everyone. I'm joined today by William Arblinger, Alcoa Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer and Molly Behrman, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. We will take your questions after comments by Bill and Molly. As a reminder, today's discussion will contain forward looking statements relating to future events and expectations that are subject to various assumptions and caveats. Factors that may cause the company's actual results to differ materially from these statements are included in today's presentation and in our SEC filings.

In addition, we have included some non GAAP financial measures in this presentation. For historical non GAAP financial measures, reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in the appendix to today's presentation. We have not presented quantitative reconciliations of certain forward looking non GAAP financial measures for reasons noted on this slide. A new reference in our discussion today to EBITDA means adjusted EBITDA. Finally, as previously announced, the earnings press release and slide presentation are available on our website.

Now, I'd like to turn over the call to Bill.

Thank you, Louis, and welcome everyone to our Q4 2024 earnings conference call. Today, we'll review the substantial progress we made during 2024 on key objectives, substantial results, the market and our plans to continue to improve and strengthen our company in 2025. Let's start with a recap of 2024. I'm very pleased that we had no fatalities or life altering injuries and improved our key safety metrics. We successfully operated under our new mine conditions in Western Australia, which included daily observation of our mining and rehabilitation practices by certain regulators.

9 of our 11 smelters increased annual production with 5 achieving annual production records. On the people side, we onboarded and integrated new talent in several critical roles and promoted a culture that prioritizes high performance and continuous improvement. Commercially, we expanded a number of important customer and supplier relationships and invested in growth CapEx to enhance value add products needed by our customers to meet their manufacturing and sales objectives. In our Sustainer line of products, we announced our first sales of EcoSource non metallurgical alumina and our low carbon equilibrium primary aluminum now makes up half of our sales of metal in Europe. We delivered and exceeded our $645,000,000 profitability improvement program ahead of schedule through initiatives which included savings on raw materials, actions to improve profitability and competitiveness, as well as changes to improve the financial performance of our operating portfolio.

In November, we started delevering the company with the repayment of $385,000,000 of debt, while maintaining our quarterly dividend. We completed the Illumina Limited acquisition and initiated the sale of our investment in the Monden joint ventures valued today at about $1,300,000,000 Also in the Q4 of 2024, we progressed the cooperation with stakeholders to improve the long term outlook of our San Sipran operations. To sum it up, 2024 was a successful year at Alcoa. Now I'll turn it over to Molly to take us through the strong financial results.

Thank you, Bill. Revenue was up 20% sequentially to $3,500,000,000 In the alumina segment, 3rd party revenue increased 45% on higher average realized third party price and higher shipments. In the aluminum segment, 3rd party revenue increased 5%, primarily due to the increase in average realized third party price. 4th quarter net income attributable to Alcoa was $202,000,000 versus the prior quarter of 90 dollars with earnings per common share doubling to $0.76 per share. These results include an additional $82,000,000 restructuring charge for the Quinona curtailment.

During the Q4, we completed the technical evaluation of the water management requirements for the residue areas and increased the duration of the transition and related equipment costs for ongoing water treatment. On an adjusted basis, the net earnings attributable to Alcoa was $276,000,000 or $1.04 per share. Adjusted EBITDA increased $222,000,000 to 677,000,000 dollars Let's look at the key drivers of EBITDA. 4th quarter adjusted EBITDA reflects higher alumina and aluminum prices, higher shipments and lower energy costs, partially offset by increased other costs, primarily related to intersegment elimination. The alumina segment increased $349,000,000 primarily due to higher alumina prices, higher volume, while all other cost increases were mostly offset by currency gains.

The aluminum segment increased slightly with higher metal prices, production cost improvements and lower energy costs being mostly offset by higher alumina costs. Outside the segment, other corporate costs increased and the inter segment elimination expense increased as expected with significantly higher average alumina price requiring more inventory profit elimination. Moving on to cash flow activities for the Q4 and full year 2024. We used cash from improved earnings in the Q4 along with cash on the balance sheet to repay the debt acquired in the alumina limited transaction. This repayment was partially offset by increased borrowings under an inventory repurchase program.

Working capital improved slightly in the quarter as lower inventories and higher year end accounts payables offset increased accounts receivables related to higher API and metal prices. For the year, capital expenditures, working capital changes and environmental and ARO payments continue to be our largest uses of cash. Additionally, in 2024, our restructuring payments included approximately $140,000,000 related to the Quinone curtailment and approximately $35,000,000 related to our employee commitments in Spain. Next, we'll review the performance on our profitability improvement program. We have already exceeded the $645,000,000 target set for our profitability program, which was generally a 2 year program to improve our financial results from full year 2023's low EBITDA of $536,000,000 Overall, the improvements are evident in our year over year bridge by program or location.

During the Q4, we added $150,000,000 to the 3rd quarter's year to date progress for a total of $675,000,000 Through December 31, the company overachieved its its $310,000,000 target on raw materials with approximately $385,000,000 in savings. Within our productivity and competitiveness program through December 31, we implemented actions contributing approximately $80,000,000 of savings and expect to deliver the $100,000,000 run rate target by the end of the Q1 of 2025. We have also progressed our portfolio improvements. To date, Borac has achieved $45,000,000 of its $60,000,000 target. We also received the final ruling from the U.

S. Treasury on the inclusion of direct materials in Section 45X of the IRA program, which adds roughly $15,000,000 in annual credits or about half of the benefit we had expected. The Alumar smelter restart achieved approximately $105,000,000 on its $75,000,000 target and is currently operating at nearly 85% capacity. The Quinone curtailment has been slow to deliver savings due to high transition and holding costs, but it will continue to work towards the $70,000,000 improvement target. Moving on to other key financial metrics.

The year to date return on equity is positive 6.5%. Days working capital decreased 11 days sequentially to 34 days, primarily due to a decrease in inventory days on increased sales. Our 4th quarter dividend added $27,000,000 to stockholder capital returns. Free cash flow plus net non controlling interest contributions was positive for the quarter, resulting in a cash balance of $1,100,000,000 As we look ahead to 2025, continuing to delever and reposition debt to the jurisdictions where cash is needed will be a priority for us. Turning to the outlook for the full year and Q1 of 2025.

To be clear, our outlook does not include any estimates for the impacts of potential tariffs. For the full year, we expect alumina production to range between 9,500,000 and 9,700,000 tons and shipments to range between 13,100,000 13,300,000 tons. The difference reflects our normal trading volumes as well as externally sourced alumina. The aluminum segment is expected to produce 2,300,000 to 2,500,000 tons, increasing on smelter restarts, while shipments are expected to range between 2,600,000 and 2,800,000 tons. In EBITDA items outside the segments, we expect transformation costs to be $75,000,000 slightly increased from last year and reflecting the work we are doing to accelerate remediation activity in order to take advantage of potential asset monetization opportunities.

Other corporate expense will improve to approximately $170,000,000 reflecting continued efforts to control our overhead costs. Below EBITDA, we expect depreciation to remain at approximately $640,000,000 Non operating pension and OPEB expense is expected to be up slightly at $25,000,000 and interest expense will be $165,000,000 For cash flow impacts, we expect 2025 pension and OPEB required cash funding to be similar to 2024 at $70,000,000 The majority of that spend is for the U. S. OPEB plan. Our capital returns to stockholders will continue to be aligned with our capital allocation framework.

Our capital expenditure estimate is $700,000,000 with $625,000,000 in sustaining $75,000,000 in return seeking. The sustaining capital increase is $185,000,000 over 2024, primarily due to a $70,000,000 increase related to up upcoming mine moves in Australia as well as a number of major projects, including energy transition projects in Juruti, a new ship unloader in Canada and upgrades to a bauxite reclaiming system in Australia. We expect return seeking investments to decrease following our investment in the Brazil bauxite vessels in 2024. However, we continue to identify capacity expansion projects and remain open to fund those requests if they meet return criteria and market conditions allow. We expect approximately $50,000,000 of prior period income tax payments in 2025.

That amount is lower than you might expect based on our 2024 higher earnings, primarily due to the utilization of the Illumina Limited carry forward net operating loss, which saved approximately $70,000,000 on 20.24 cash taxes. We have approximately $60,000,000 of tax benefit related to that NOL remaining to use in future periods subject to annual percentage limitations. Environmental and ARO spending is expected to be similar to 2024 at approximately $240,000,000 We do not provide guidance on full year cash restructuring charges, but can show the portion attributable to the Kwinana curtailment. Approximately $140,000,000 remain to be spent from the Kwinana restructuring reserve with a large majority of that to be dispersed in 2025. For the Q1 of 2025 at the segment level, in alumina, we expect performance to be favorable by alumina,

performance to be favorable by approximately $30,000,000 due to the nonrecurring inventory adjustment recorded in the 4th quarter, partially offset by typical first quarter impacts from the beginning of maintenance cycles and lower shipping volumes. In the aluminum segment, we expect performance to be unfavorable by approximately $60,000,000 due to the non recurring IRA Section 45 true up benefit recorded in the 4th quarter, lower seasonal pricing at the Brazil hydroelectric facilities and the absence of modern offtake shipping volumes in accordance with the terms of the announced transaction. While the higher average price of alumina will increase overall Alcoa adjusted EBITDA, alumina cost in the aluminum segment is expected to be unfavorable by approximately $90,000,000 Beyond the standard sensitivity provided for inter segment profit elimination, we anticipate an additional $20,000,000 of income in the Q1 of 2025 due to the lower profit retained in inventory related to changes in production costs and volumes. Below EBITDA, within other expenses, contributions to Elesys in the Q1 of 2025 are expected to increase by $25,000,000 which triggers loss recognition. The Q4 of 2024 included negative impacts of $50,000,000 due to foreign currency losses, which may not recur.

Based on last week's pricing, we expect the Q1 of 2025 operational tax expense to approximate $120,000,000 to $130,000,000 Note that the Q4 2024 tax provision included a $55,000,000 catch up expense. Our sensitivities have been updated for our view of 2025. Please note that we revised our regional premium distribution due to the increase in the LEMR smelter shipments. Our pricing in Brazil is based on both index and fixed pricing. As a proxy for the average result of that pricing scheme, we see a high correlation to the Midwest duty unpaid index and suggest using that index for your model.

Lastly, we have a new disclosure in the appendix. At the request of our stockholders, particularly those in Australia, where per unit disclosures are widely available, we are now including cost per unit measures for the alumina and aluminum segments as a whole for your reference. Now I'll turn it back to Bill.

Thanks, Molly. We expect to maintain our fast pace in 2025. Let's cover some of our key areas of focus in 2025. We want to step change in safety. We've made great progress in the last 2 years, but we want more.

We see a direct correlation between safety and operational stability. We're continuing our pursuit of operational excellence, supported by the modernization of the Alcoa business system and with particular attention on improving the performance of our Brazilian operations. Progressing our mining approvals in Australia remains of paramount importance. We expect to raise the bar on commercial excellence through customer focused decisions. We want to be positioned as the supplier of choice for customers in terms of product quality, innovation, sustainability and security of supply.

We plan to pursue targeted areas for growth via organic and inorganic opportunities. We will do that where returns exceed the cost of capital and deliver value to our shareholders. We are progressing our work on San Cyprian and expect to execute the first steps in 2025. Lastly, on capital allocation, delevering and repositioning debt are a priority for us. Assuming prices retain their strength, we expect to generate sufficient cash to enable further debt reductions.

We believe delevering is another means to deliver value to our stockholders. Now let's discuss our markets. In alumina, prices reached an all time high in the Q4 as a result of a tight market on lower than expected supply. In Guinea, a force majeure on bauxite exports to China from a major player and protests in the Bouquet region all impacted the flow of bauxite exports. This is particularly relevant to the Chinese market that was already facing tight bauxite supply due to lower local production related safety and environmental inspections at mines in Northern China.

Meanwhile, demand remains strong from smelters, resulting in low stocks available in the alumina spot market, creating competition for alumina cargoes and increasing the cost to smelters. Looking ahead to 2025, in order for the alumina market to come back to balance, several ramp up and new projects in China, Indonesia and India must complete as planned. Also, bauxite availability is key to keeping refining projects in India and China on track. In aluminum, global demand remained resilient in the Q4. European and North American demand continues to be supported by the packaging and electrical sectors, while building and construction and automotive remain challenged.

For building and construction specifically, prior interest rate cuts in Europe and in the U. S. Are likely to provide support for recovery. In China, growth in all end uses with the exception of building and construction led to strong primary aluminum demand growth in 2024. The increase in alumina price has outweighed the increase in aluminum price and resulted in tighter margins for smelters exposed to spot price.

Announced smelter curtailments in Russia, front loaded maintenance at smelters in China, together with delayed ramp ups in Indonesia, have tightened global aluminum supply. For 2025, aluminum demand outside China is expected to rebound with North America and Europe supported by higher real incomes and lower average interest rates year over year. Limited supply growth is expected globally in 2025, following recent curtailments and delayed ramp ups supported by China approaching the 45,000,000 metric ton capacity cap. And of course, there is uncertainty related to the impact of any new U. S.

Tariffs, which could have wide ranging effects on supply, demand and trade flows. When we speak of the possibility of changing trade flows, it is important to point out Alcoa's competitive advantage as a vertically integrated primary aluminum player from mine to metal with bauxite mines, aluminum refineries and aluminum smelters in the cast houses located across the world. This positioning gives Alcoa the ability to maneuver and respond to challenging and changing market and policy conditions. As I mentioned earlier, the tight supply in 2024 in bauxite and alumina caused alumina prices to rise to all time highs and some smelters had to cut production or delay ramp ups. Our global network of mines and refineries enabled us to navigate these market conditions without significant operational issues, while benefiting from the elevated alumina price.

In aluminum, Alcoa has close proximity to customers in North America and Europe with smelters across the U. S, Canada and Europe. For both alumina and aluminum products, our customers value the security that comes with Alcoa sourced products. They appreciate our close proximity, reliable delivery performance as well as a variety of mature and stable transportation choices. Alcoa prides itself on offering high quality products across the value chain and continuing to innovate our products to meet customer needs, including low carbon solutions.

When you transition from Alcoa's global footprint to look at the primary aluminum supply flows into the United States, you can see the U. S. Currently has a significant inflow from Canada. The current discussions and proposals on tariffs by the U. S.

Government may have significant impacts on how metal is flowing from one country to another. Currently, the U. S. Imports 2 thirds of its primary aluminum from Canada. This was true both before and after the Section 232 tariffs on aluminum implemented by President Trump in his first term, who also granted an exemption to the tariffs for Canada and select other countries.

There were to be tariffs on Canadian aluminum imports to the U. S, this would represent a threat to U. S. Industrial competitiveness. A 25% tariff on current Canadian export volume to the U.

S. Could represent 1.5 $1,000,000,000 to $2,000,000,000 of additional annual cost for U. S. Customers. In addition, increasing costs on trade with Canada and Mexico would particularly hurt the U.

S. Transportation supply chain, the largest end market in North America and specifically the automotive market. Trade flows would likely be impacted such that U. S. Aluminum imports would increase from countries and regions that have a lower import duty level like the Middle East and India, while Canadian metal could reroute to Europe and other countries.

In Alcoa's case, we could reroute supply from our Canadian smelters to Europe. While it is an advantage to have this optionality, it certainly is not a benefit for our customers that supply chains like That said, Alcoa is 135 year old global company, which operates in markets all over the world and has worked with governments on many topics throughout our history. If the U. S. Government decides to implement new tariffs for strategic purposes, we will work with the purposes, we will work with the administration to protect Alcoa's interests.

Let's move on to talk about our work in Spain. We just announced further progress with our San Siprian stakeholders. Alcoa Innispol, Ignis EQT, Spanish National and Chunta Regional Governments have entered into a memorandum of understanding to work cooperatively toward improving the long term outlook for the complex. There are 4 key elements of the MoU, which include cooperation from the parties. 1st, support by the governments for our dialogue with Sancyprian workers to prioritize restarting the smelter over capital investments that can be deferred to a later date.

2nd, streamline the authorization of renewable energy projects and deploy policies to achieve competitive energy costs. 3rd, provide materially higher CO2 compensation support. We've already seen the Spanish National Government increase the CO2 compensation program budget, which will provide meaningful support when the San Siprian smelter reaches full capacity. Last, support the approval by the regional government of the residue storage area capital projects, which are needed to maintain production in the refinery. We expect to use the momentum created by the MOU to continue advancing these key areas of cooperation as well as the remaining conditions, including energy supply contracts.

Additionally, Alcoa Innispol and Ignis EQT are working to finalize the partnership agreement. We are working to complete these steps as early as possible in the Q1 of 2025. As a company, we are proud of the progress we have made in the Q4 and in 2024 on multiple fronts. Looking ahead, we plan to maintain a fast pace of execution on our 2025 key areas of focus and strategic initiatives, improve the competitiveness of our operations and capitalize on strong market fundamentals to deliver value to our stockholders. Operator, let's start the question and answer portion of the session.

We will now begin the question and answer session. The first question is from Katja Jancic with BMO Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Hi. Thanks for taking my questions. Maybe starting on tariffs. Bill, you mentioned if there are 25% tariffs on Canada, you would potentially divert that volume to European market. Where do you think the Midwest premium could actually go if we do start seeing that volume being directed and U.

S. Would still have to attract the volume from somewhere else?

Yes, Kania, the Midwest premium we think will go substantially higher. I don't have a number in front of me on what we think it will end up at, but it will go substantially higher in order to attract volumes into the U. S. Ultimately, if there's a differential between Canadian and non Canadian metal, you're going to see trade flows disrupted such a way that us and other suppliers most likely will ship from Canadian metal into Europe and you'll see Middle Eastern metal, potentially Indian metal coming into North America because there would potentially be a 15% trade differential. Literally, you'd see ships passing in the Atlantic carrying the exact same product back and forth and it doesn't make a lot of sense.

And so that's why we've shown the chart that we chose.

And then maybe just for Alcoa specifically, would the increase in Midwest premium and your U. S. Operation be enough to offset the negative impact from tariffs?

So remember the differential between the size of production in the U. S. Versus the size of production in Canada. We have roughly 900,000 metric tons in Canada and operating in the U. S.

Roughly 300,000 metric tons. So the differential would not offset. Now before we speculate too much, the tariff structure hasn't been set. We have been appreciative of the U. S.

Government taking the time to think through these tariffs and we'll wait and see what it brings and then give you a view of the outlook at that point.

Okay, thank you. I'll hop back into the queue. Thanks.

The next question is from Lawson Winder with Bank of America Securities.

Very nice hearing from you both and nice work on a solid 24. If I could, I'd like to ask about your net debt position. Nice to see it fall during the quarter. Bill, I know you haven't done this in the recent past, but would you feel that you might build in a position today to provide some sort of clarity on the net debt target for Alcoa? And then how do you think about the MaDen equity position and how does that factor into your thinking?

And I'm coming from the point of view to try to gauge the timing of when Alcoa might consider some sort of potential increase in capital return?

Lawson, I'll take the first part on our net debt target. We no longer have a stated net debt target. However, we are currently higher than we've been in the last 3 years. We closed the year at $2,100,000,000 in adjusted net debt. If you recall back to 2021 2022, we were right around $1,000,000,000 in adjusted net debt and that was certainly a more comfortable level for us.

We will have delevering as well as repositioning debt as a priority in 2025. If we find though that we have excess cash after maintaining our strong balance sheet and funding our operations to sustain them, we will look at our capital allocation framework and we'll look at shareholder returns, positioning for growth as well as any further portfolio actions that we need to take.

And when we consider the Mottin transaction, it's important to remember that we've announced it, but we haven't closed it. We anticipate that it will be closed in the first half of this year. The value on the day that we announced the transaction was roughly $1,100,000,000 Subsequent to that time, the modern shares have increased, so the value is more like $1,300,000,000 dollars We're very focused on getting that transaction closed. Recall that it has a lockup period of roughly a third, a third, a third, 3 years, 4 years, and 5 years. And so over that time period, we'll consider what we do with those shares.

But there is a lockup period. So, we'll have some time before we potentially recognize that value.

Okay, very helpful. Thank you for those comments. If I could actually jump to the bauxite market and just you provided some commentary and it's helpful. It sounded kind of I guess there's a bit of a warning about to some of these aluminum refineries that are ramping up. I mean, what are you hearing from your third party customers in terms of bauxite availability?

I mean, do you have a sense that there is sufficient bauxite capacity in 2025 to see some of these new refineries and particularly in India and China ramp up?

So the bauxite market currently is very tight. We see bauxite pricing into China at $120,000,000 $130 per ton, probably the highest bauxite ever been. When a coastal refinery in China is looking at restarting. If they're using imported bauxite, their bauxite cost alone is between somewhere between $2.50 $300 per ton. So the market is tight and it's tight for the reasons that we discussed in the prepared remarks.

And that has a flow on impact on the alumina market. When we look at the alumina market, we think that alumina will remain tight, we believe through the first half. Don't know what will happen after that. In order for the alumina market to loosen up, we need to see production coming online in India, Indonesia, but with a tight bauxite market and an expensive bauxite market that pressures the aluminum market further.

Okay. Thanks for your comments. Much appreciated. The

next question is from Daniel Major with UBS. Please go ahead.

Great, thanks. Yes, two questions. The first one just on Sancypria and I guess good progress with the memorandum, understanding a couple of competitors. Can you confirm what the cash balance is at the end of the year at San Cyprian and any updated projection based on kind of market prices as to when effectively that will run out

the memorandum of understanding and I guess it's encouraging, but it doesn't guarantee that a deal will be reached. Is that a way of thinking about it?

Yes. I'll take the first part on the cash balance. So with recently high API prices, it has reduced our net cash consumption, but cash is still depleting weekly. And so we do have a sense of urgency to complete our discussions and negotiations, primarily with the unions on the release of the restricted cash and with the energy suppliers on viable contracts. The decision for us to proceed with the JV formation and initial investments that would be made by Alcoa and our partner Ignis will be based on the certainty that we have on each of the remaining items.

And as far as the MOU goes, we think the MOU is a step forward for the long term viability of the site. The MOU provides essentially four things as I outlined in my prepared remarks. Both the national and the regional government are supportive of prioritizing the smelter restart over the capital investments. They're supportive of streamlining the authorization of renewable energy projects, specifically wind farms. They're providing their support for materially higher CO2 compensation support.

That's a big deal. Back in December 13, they talked about doubling compensation for CO2. That supports the long term viability of the site. And then lastly, we need not least important, but we need support on approval of the residue storage area uplift. With that said, Daniel, we continue to plan for the ramp up of the smelter, but at this point, it can't be guaranteed.

As we mentioned earlier, we still have several key pieces that need to fall in place. Currently, the smelter is not viable, so ramping up production will accelerate the consumption of cash that Mollie talked about from the proposed investment that must be for reserve to support the long term viability of the operations. We also need to hear from the Works Council on releasing the restricted cash. So, the MOU is a step forward, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee the restart of the smelter.

Very good. Thank you. And then, second part of the question, lots of excitement around monetizing excess energy offtake that you have to feed the AI data center dynamic. Can you provide us with any numbers around megawatts to potential excess capacity and any steer around the upside to that?

You're breaking up on us, but I think the question that you're asking was that do we have excess energy that we can monetize around the world. And we have 4 positions down in Brazil that are part ownership in hydros that we sell into the marketplace there. We saw the benefit of some higher pricing in the Q4 versus the Q3. So that's a positive. That will fluctuate depending on what the rainfall essentially looks like and what the energy prices look like down in Brazil.

The other place that we could potentially monetize energy is in Wort, but Wort's coal fired power plant and currently we're using that energy to run the smelting. But those are really the two areas that we could monetize energy other than making it into aluminum. The

The next question is from Carlos De Alba with Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.

Thank you very much. Hello, Molina and Bill. So maybe similar vein of the last question, but then slightly different. What is the opportunity that our CoA has to potentially monetize idle sites given the interest from data centers on that type of assets?

Thanks for the question, Carlos. And we actually have a history of monetizing legacy assets that has generated significant value over time. And so while others may talk about it, we have actually done it. So for instance, in Texas, if you remember the Rockdale site, I believe we sold it for right around $270,000,000 a number of years ago and that has subsequently been redeveloped into certain areas. Again, we were able to monetize it and make good money.

In advance of that, I should say after that, we sold the Intelco site for $100,000,000 That ultimately went to a data center developer and it was long before this craze around AI and data centers and we were able to monetize $100,000,000 there. We have a number of sites around the country and around the world that are uniquely positioned to be able to take advantage of both the data center and the AI situation. Why do I say they're uniquely positioned? They have generally energy connections that are able to bring energy in. So when I look at it, there are places like Wenatchee, Messina East, the one that's probably the most valuable is Point Comfort because it has access to a port.

Globally, we have Point Henry, which is a site that in Australia. So while I'm not willing to put a value on it, you see our track record before the real craze around AI and data centers of multi $100,000,000 sales generations from these sites.

Thanks, Bill. And maybe just a follow-up on that one. Is there any timetable and you were focused obviously last year on closing the alumina limited. You have been making progress in Sanseipriand. I mean, it's an ongoing effort.

But do you have now this potential monetization of legacy assets in your agenda for the coming months, quarters? Any color as to when exactly where the company is potentially in this process and where we could see some benefit?

No. And the reason why I say no, Carlos, is because these things take time and I want maximum value. We're not in a position where we need to do a fire sale on any of these assets. So, if you recall the saga of Rockdale from a number of years ago, we had offers in Rockdale that were as small as $40,000,000 and we held out for maximum value that was again my recollection was greater than $250,000,000 So I'm not going to lay out a timetable. We have assets that we can monetize.

In the case of something like Point Comfort, we're going through the demolition. We're going to make sure that we get maximum value out of these sites. So we're not in a rush to sell, but it is actually a good market right now. So we'll let you know.

Fair enough. And you're going to cheat a little bit since that was technically one question. If I may just ask consensus, Brian, so if all these efforts that you are putting into restarting the asset and reaching a viable agreement don't work, don't play out, what would be like sort of maybe a range of the worst case for Acoa and Arcoa shareholders? How much money you would potentially lose or cash that would be stranded in the country? If you can provide some color or framework around that, that would be useful.

So, Carlos, before Molly gives you some numbers, I will caution you that I don't want to speculate on the potential outcome here. We are focused on making San Cyprian a viable site. We just announced significant support that we're really pleased with from both the national and the regional government. So we are focused on making that a viable site for the long term. That's our priority outcome.

However, Molly can give you some numbers around potential curtailment or closure costs.

So Carlos, please have an updated from the last time they remain the same. On the smelter without severance, we're looking at $40,000,000 to $50,000,000 in cash closure costs. On the refinery, again, without severance, we're about $200,000,000 but that does include about $80,000,000 in the CapEx for the residue storage area. We're actually going to go ahead and do that work now. That will be needed whether we're running or closing.

And in a closure scenario, again, we're not there, but we would be paying out those funds that I just spoke about over 5 to 7 years.

The next question is from Nick Giles with B. Riley Securities.

Afternoon, everyone. Congrats on a really nice quarter here. I just wanted to follow-up on some of your legacy power assets. What have conversations look like to date? Have you been approached by any hyperscalers or similar data center developers?

Or is due diligence really just on Alcoa's end at this stage?

Nick, we are in constant contact with developers on all of these sites. And it takes time and it takes a lot of work with various groups. These are generally not the landscape has changed a little bit with some of the hyperscalers. But historically, these are generally not well capitalized firms. So you go through a lot of process and ultimately find out that they don't have the money to be able to do it.

But that's what we've done in places like Rockdale and in telco. So we are in contact with folks and trying to move forward for the best value for our shareholders.

Well, Bill, I think it's safe to say everyone will be a little better capitalized after Well, Bill, I think it's safe to say everyone will

be a little better capitalized after the Stargate announcement last night. My next

question was, first of all, congratulations on the execution of the profitability improvement program. I was wondering if you could provide an update on your productivity and competitiveness program. I think you had reached $45,000,000 as of Q3. Should we still think about you exiting 1Q at the $100,000,000 run rate? Thanks very much.

Alcoa (AA) Q4 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

Company Participants