Aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. (AA) has announced that it is in the process of taking full control of aluminum beverage can recycling company, Evermore Recycling. Evermore Recycling was part of the joint venture between Alcoa and Novelis and both the companies purchased more recycled cans than any other group in the world.
Under the new agreement with Novelis, Alcoa will assume the full ownership and operation of Evermore Recycling. Evermore will be a part of its Global Packaging Division, effective August 31, 2012. Alcoa sees a great prospect in recycling and believes that aluminum cans are the most easily recycled containers. According to the company, the deal will make its stake stronger in the scrap markets.
Aluminum cans take less than two months to be converted into new cans. Moreover, the energy requirement of the recycled cans is almost 95% lesser than the cans that use primary metals. Aluminum has the unique ability to be recycled quite a number of times and about two thirds of the aluminum that was first produced in 1888 is still in the market.
Alcoa is a leading producer of primary and fabricated aluminum as well as the world’s largest miner of bauxite and refiner of alumina. Few days back, the company released its second-quarter 2012 results. It posted a loss of $2 million (break-even on a per-share basis) in the quarter compared with a profit of $322 million (or 28 cents a share) in the year-ago quarter. The bottom line was hit by due to lower aluminum prices.
Excluding one-time special items (including restructuring and other charges, litigation expenses and tax-related items), Alcoa earned 6 cents a share in the quarter, in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate and below the year-ago earnings of 32 cents.
Revenues decreased 9.4% year over year and 0.7% sequentially to $5,963 million, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $5,828 million. Though weak aluminum prices dragged down revenues, the company witnessed increased demand across aerospace and automotive markets in the quarter. Aluminum prices dropped 18% year over year and 4% sequentially in the second quarter.
Alcoa witnessed strong performances across all its businesses during the quarter, driven by higher utilization rates, process innovations, lower scrap rates and usage reductions. The company expects higher demand for aluminum from automobile, aerospace, packaging and commercial transportation end markets in the near term.
Alcoa competes with Aluminum Corporation of China Limited (ACH) and RioTinto plc. (RIO). The stock maintains a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates into a short-term (1 to 3 months) Hold rating.
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