Alcoa history

In 1891, the company went into production in New Kensington, Pennsylvania.

By 1893, however, Hall's process allowed Pittsburgh Reduction to undercut its competitors with aluminum that had been produced at a lower price.

In 1895, a third site opened at Niagara Falls.

1901: Began fabricating lightweight aluminum body and parts for automobiles

By 1903, the company had become the only legal supplier of aluminum in the United States.

Known officially since 1907 as The Aluminum Company of America, the company decides it's time for a name that reflects its status as a global company.

Arthur Vining Davis, a partner who had joined Pittsburgh Reduction only months after its founding, acted as president during this time, and the Mellons formally ceded power to him in 1910.

In 1914 Davis became the company's last surviving link to its early days when Charles Martin Hall died, leaving an estate worth some $45 million.

Alcoa also benefited from rising demand from the automobile industry; by 1915, 65 percent of all new aluminum went into automotive parts.

1917: Helped make United States military equipment lighter, faster and stronger, with the company’s trademark aluminum featured in helmets, gas masks, and canteens

By 1923, Alcoa's New Kensington, Pennsylvania plant was using horizontal extrusion presses, with preheated billets, for aerospace and construction applications.

Alcoa responded just two months later by making a $27 billion hostile takeover bid of Alcan, a former Canadian subsidiary of Alcoa that spun off in 1928.

In 1929 Arthur Vining Davis retired as president and became chairman.

Demand for aluminum did not recover until 1936.

A district court ruling in 1942 found in favor of Alcoa, but the government appealed.

As the tide of the war shifted in favor of the Allies in 1944, the United States government began deliberations on how to dispose of these plants, which would soon become surplus capacity.

1945: An appeals court ruling finds Alcoa guilty of antitrust violations, calling for a breakup of the company's monopolistic hold on the aluminum market.

In 1950 a district court decree carved up the United States aluminum market between the three: Alcoa would get 50.9 percent of production capacity, Reynolds 30.9 percent, and Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation, as Permanente Metals was renamed, 18.2 percent.

The final court decisions in 1951 absolved Alcoa of wrongdoing, but Alcoa’s major stockholders were compelled to divest themselves of their common stock in Aluminium Limited.

Since 1952, Alcoa Foundation has invested more than $700 million in Alcoa communities and is one of the largest corporate foundations in the United States.

1955: Developed the first aluminum wheel for the modern passenger car – the lightweight spoke wheel on the 1955 Cadillac Eldorado

He was succeeded by Wilson, and Frank Magee became president and CEO. Alcoa came out of the brief recession of 1957-58 by realizing that it would have to internationalize and diversify in order to ensure its future.

In 1958 Alcoa joined with Lockheed and Japanese manufacturer Furukawa Electric Company to form Furalco, which would produce aluminum aircraft parts for Lockheed.

In 1959 it acquired Rome Cable and Wire Company.

When John Harper became president and CEO in 1963, Alcoa found its profit margins squeezed by increased competition, high overhead, and a generally low market price for aluminum.

Aluminum Limited was renamed Alcan Aluminum Limited in 1966.

In 1972 the company also decided to sell its technology to other manufacturers on a large scale, something it had been loath to do in the past.

W.H. Krome George succeeded John Harper as chairman and CEO in 1975, and Alcoa began to show new signs of life.

1977: Launched “Alcoa Can’t Wait” advertising campaign, memorable for its rousing score and images of innovative products and processes from Alcoa

By 1979 Alcoa was reprocessing 110 million pounds of scrap aluminum.

1981: Supplied powdered aluminum fuel and aluminum components for the Space Shuttle program

By the time George retired in 1983, he had started the company on the path once again to developing new high-strength alloys for use in the aerospace business.

1985: Consulted with AM General during concept development for the Humvee, which became the workhorse of the United States Army, and whose body is constructed from high-strength, lightweight aluminum for fuel efficiency and rust resistance

Although Alcoa made only minor acquisitions during Parry's tenure, which ended in 1987, the directors became concerned that the deals that Parry proposed to make would not fit in well.

In 1990 it formed a joint venture with Japanese manufacturer Kobe Steel, Ltd. to make sheet metal for aluminum cans and parts for automakers for the Asian market.

By 1991, the revitalization of the aluminum business under O'Neill's watch had achieved great strides.

1994: Began working with Audi to develop new manufacturing techniques to produce an ultra-lightweight aluminum spaceframe, which resulted in the first all-aluminum automobile

His goal, he said, was that half of the company's revenue should come from non-aluminum sources by 1995.

But in 1997 the price of aluminum remained depressed, and demand, particularly in the United States, continued to falter.

1998: Alcoa moves to new headquarters as part of a major restructuring.

The biggest move, however, came in 1999, when Alcoa secured a $4.8 billion deal to take over the Reynolds Metals Company, shortly after the consolidation of three of its biggest rivals, Alcan Aluminum of Canada, Pechiney of France, and Alusuisse Lonza Group of Switzerland.

To reach his ambitious revenue target by the year 2000, O'Neill would have to pursue aggressive strategies to continue cutting costs and increasing market share.

Two new sports venues opened in 2001 on the north bank of the Allegheny opposite the Golden Triangle: PNC Park is home of the Pirates, the city’s professional baseball team, and Heinz Field houses the Steelers, its professional gridiron football team.

By early in 2003, with sales still flat, the scope of the restructuring initiatives included the dismissal of 8,000 employees worldwide and the divestiture of the company's underperforming assets, especially in Europe and South America.

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.

In 2005 Alcoa acquired two major production facilities in Russia, at Samara and Belaya Kalitva.

In 2006, Alcoa relocated its top executives from Pittsburgh to New York City.

In March 2007, the Russian aluminum giant RUSAL merged with SUAL and the Swiss company Glencore to become United Company Rusal, overtaking Alcoa as the world’s largest aluminum company.

On May 8, 2008, Klaus Kleinfeld was appointed CEO of Alcoa, succeeding Alain Belda.

For its efforts, the company was named to the Global 100 ranking of the top role models in sustainable business practices during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in January 2009.

Alcoa’s latest honor came in March 2010, when Fortune magazine rated it the most admired metals company in the world, a list on which the company has been included for 27 consecutive years.

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.

2013: Capitalized on historic auto industry shift to lightweight vehicles and became a leader in providing advanced aluminum sheet to the North American automotive industry

In June 2016, Alcoa Inc. announced plans to split itself into two companies.

In April 2017, Alcoa announced that it would relocate its corporate headquarters back to Pittsburgh as part of a general consolidation of administrative facilities around the world.