Alcoa Closes Another Aluminum Smelter

Two U.S. aluminum smelters, two more in Spain, and one in Italy have already been shut down by Alcoa Inc. (NYSE: AA) as the aluminum fabricator and miner tries to come to grips with the ever-declining price for aluminum. Today the company announced that it is closing another smelter in Italy, which will cost 14 workers their jobs. The Fusina smelter near Venice has operated at a reduced rate for the past three years.

Aluminum futures prices have dropped to their lowest level in four years, near $1, 765 per metric ton, nearly $1,000 below the peak price in the spring of 2011.

The Fusina smelter has been producing about 44,000 metric tons of aluminum a year, just 1% of Alcoa's total capacity of 4.2 million metric tons. The company also has another 460,000 metric tons of capacity under review for curtailment or closure.

Shares of Alcoa are down about 0.4% today, at $7.84 in a 52-week range of $7.71 to $9.93.

Filed under: Commodities & Metals Tagged: AA