Hall's patent In 1886,
Charles Martin Hall, a graduate of
Oberlin College, discovered the process of
smelting aluminum, almost simultaneously with
Paul Héroult in France. He realized that by passing an electric current through a bath of
cryolite and
aluminum oxide, the then semi-rare metal aluminum remained as a byproduct. This discovery, now called the
Hall–Héroult process, reduced production costs. in 1938. Fewer than ten sites in the United States and Europe produced aluminum at the time. In 1887, Hall agreed to try his process at the
Electric Smelting and Aluminum Company plant in
Lockport, New York. Still, it was not used, and Hall left after one year, teaming up with
Alfred E. Hunt to form a new company. After graduating from
Amherst College in 1888,
Arthur Vining Davis joined the new venture because Arthur's father knew Alfred Hunt. At the time, aluminum sold at almost $5 per pound, making it too expensive to be used commercially. They worked to lower the cost of production using Charles Hall's ideas; Hall, Davis, and others worked 12-hour days together for months on the experiments. Their first commercial aluminum pour was on Thanksgiving Day in 1888.
Pittsburgh Reduction Company The
Pittsburgh Reduction Company began with an experimental smelting plant on Smallman Street in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with Hunt as president and Hall as vice president. In 1891, the company began production in
New Kensington, Pennsylvania. Davis was named general manager and appointed to the board of directors in 1892. In 1895, a third site opened at
Niagara Falls.
Hunt's departure Hunt left the company in 1898 to fight in the
Spanish–American War. While in Puerto Rico, he contracted
Malaria. Less than a year after his return to the states, he died from complications of the disease at age 44. By about 1903, after a settlement with Hall's former employer, and while its patents were in force, the company was the only legal supplier of
aluminum in the United States. By 1902, New Kensington consisted of 173,000 sq. feet on 15 acres with 276 employees. The company operated hydropower and reduction plants in Niagara Falls, NY (1895),
Shawinigan Falls, Quebec (Northern Aluminum Company), mining operations in
Bauxite, AR (1901), and reduction facilities in
East St. Louis, IL (1902). "The Aluminum Company of America" became the firm's new name on January 1, 1907. Davis was named company president in 1910 when the
acronym "Alcoa" was coined. Hall remained a vice president until he died in 1914. It was given as a name to two of the locales where major corporate facilities were located (although one of these has since been changed), and in 1999, was adopted as the official corporate name. From 1902 until 1915, additional plants in
Massena, New York (1903),
Alcoa, Tennessee (1911),
Edgewater, New Jersey (1915),
Badin, North Carolina (1915) came online while New Kensington had 31 buildings in the complex housing six departments (tubes, sheets, rods, bar and wire, extrusion, jobbing, foil) and two subsidiaries (Aluminum Cooking Utensil Company and Aluminum Seal Company). In 1907, it created the "company town" of
Pine Grove, New York, for workers outside Massena. The FTC would bring an antitrust case after WWI. By the end of
World War I Alcoa's New Kensington facility accounted for 3,292 workers—a fifth of the local population—and covered over 1 million square feet of manufacturing space on 75 acres. One of the first industrial uses was for the Navy's
dirigible Shenandoah, followed ten years later with
airplane applications. The
Northern Aluminum Company in Quebec was renamed the
Aluminum Company of Canada (ALCAN) in 1925. They were responsible for the development of Arvida, Quebec, a remote area 250 km north of
Quebec City, including infrastructure to support the plant workforce.
Alumax In 1998, Alcoa acquired
Alumax in a cash and share deal for $2.8 billion. Alcoa paid $50 a share in cash for half of the shares and 0.6975 Alcoa share for each of the remaining Alumax shares. Alcoa also assumed $1 billion in debt. Alumax's assets included the Eastalco aluminum smelter in
Adamstown, Maryland, the Intalco aluminum smelter in
Ferndale, Washington, the Deschambault Plant in Deschambault, Québec, Canada and the
Kawneer brand of building construction products.
Reynolds In 2000, Alcoa acquired
Reynolds Metals Co. in an all-share deal for $4.5 billion. To clear anti-competition regulatory hurdles, Alcoa was required to sell Reynolds's 25% interest in a Washington smelter and all of Reynolds's alumina refineries. Reynolds owned a 56% interest in the Worsley alumina refinery in Australia, a 50% interest in a refinery in Germany, and a 100% interest in a Texas refinery. Alcoa also planned to sell Reynolds's construction and distribution business and the company's $400 million transportation business. Alcoa sold its packaging and consumer business, formerly called Reynolds Metals, to the
Rank Group for $2.7 billion in 2008.
Cordant In 2000, Alcoa also purchased Cordant Technologies Inc. for $57 a share in cash, or $2.3 billion, and assumed $685 million of Cordant's debt for a total transaction value of $2.9 billion. Cordant's divisions included Huck Fasteners, Jacobson Mfg. Co., Continental/Midland Group, its 85% interest in
Howmet International Inc., and
Thiokol Corporation. In 2001, Alcoa sold Thiokol for $2.9 billion to
Alliant Techsystems (ATK).
Chalco Alcoa purchased an 8% stake of
Aluminum Corporation of China (Chalco) in 2001. It tried to form a
strategic alliance with China's largest aluminum producer, at its
Pingguo facility; however, it was unsuccessful. Alcoa sold their stake in Chalco on September 12, 2007, for around $2 billion.
Chemicals In 2004, Alcoa's
specialty chemicals business was sold to two private equity firms led by
Rhône Group for an enterprise value of $342 million, which included the assumption of debt and other unfunded obligations.
Rhône Group then changed the name to
Almatis, Inc. Corporate relocation In 2006, Alcoa relocated its top executives from Pittsburgh to
New York City while its operational headquarters was still at its Corporate Center in Pittsburgh. Alcoa employed approximately 2,000 people at its Corporate Center in Pittsburgh and 60 at its New York office. Alcoa moved its headquarters back to Pittsburgh effective September 1, 2017, as part of a general consolidation of administrative facilities around the world. In October 2018, Alcoa announced plans to move from Pittsburgh's
North Shore to a downtown Pittsburgh location.
Alcan bid In May 2007, Alcoa Inc. made a US$27 billion
hostile takeover bid for
Alcan. The bid was withdrawn when Alcan announced a
friendly takeover by
Rio Tinto in July 2007. On May 8, 2008, Klaus Kleinfeld was appointed CEO of Alcoa, succeeding
Alain Belda. On April 23, 2010, Alcoa's board of directors selected Kleinfeld to the office of chairman, following Belda's planned retirement.
Recycling On July 16, 2012, Alcoa announced that it would take over full ownership and operation of Evermore Recycling and make it part of Alcoa's Global Packaging group. Evermore Recycling recycles used beverage cans. In June 2013, Alcoa announced it would permanently close its Fusina primary aluminum smelter in
Venice, Italy, where production had been curtailed since June 2010. On January 9, 2014, Alcoa settled with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission and the
U.S. Department of Justice over charges of bribing Bahraini officials. Under the settlement terms, they will pay the SEC $175 million to settle the charges. To resolve the criminal claims with the DoJ, Alcoa World Alumina (AWA, a company within Alcoa World Alumina and Chemicals) is pleading guilty to one count of violating the anti-bribery provisions of the
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). AWA will pay the DoJ $223 million in five equal installments over the next four years, bringing the company's total bill for the scandal to $384 million.
Company split In June 2016, Alcoa Inc. announced plans to split itself into two companies: Alcoa Inc would be renamed as
Arconic and would take over the business of designing and building processed metal parts, primarily for the automotive and aerospace industries; a new company, Alcoa Corporation, would be set up and spun out of the remainder of Alcoa Inc. and retain the Alcoa name. Alcoa Corp. would continue the mining, smelting, and refining of raw aluminum. The split was completed on November 1, 2016. == Environmental record ==