Players in aluminum megamergers

By Staff -- Purchasing, 10/7/1999

Alcoa Corporate Center

201 Isabella St.

Pittsburgh, Pa. 15212-5858

1998 sales: $15.340 billion

http://www.alcoa.com

World's #1 aluminum manufacturer, Alcoa (formerly Aluminum Company of America) is a fully integrated aluminum company. It has 215 operating locations in 31 countries and is also the world's largest producer of alumina (aluminum's principal ingredient, made from bauxite). Alcoa's operations include bauxite mining, alumina refining, and aluminum smelting. Primary products include alumina and its chemicals, automotive components, and beverage cans. The company also supplies aluminum in various forms to the packaging, automotive, shipping, construction, and aerospace industries. Top competitors: Alcan, maxxam (63% owner of Kaiser Aluminum), Reynolds Metals.

Alcan Aluminium Ltd.

1188 Sherbrooke St. West

Montreal, Quebec H3A 3G2, Canada

1998 sales: $7.789 billion

http://www.alcan.com

The extra "i" in Alcan Aluminium's name comes from the preferred British spelling. The world's #2 aluminum company, Alcan mines bauxite (aluminum ore) and makes and recycles aluminum, mostly in ingot and fabricated form. Alcan recycles more than 20 billion aluminum cans in North America annually. The company also makes building products such as wire and cable, extrusions (doors, windows, auto parts), and aluminum-related specialty chemicals. With customers in the packaging and container, transportation, electrical, and construction industries, the company operates in more than 30 countries. Alcan is acquiring Pechiney (France) and Alusuisse Lonza (Switzerland) to challenge Alcoa, the world's #1 aluminum producer. Top competitors: Alcoa, Pechiney, Reynolds Metals.

Alusuisse Lonza Group Ltd.

P.O. Box 495, Feldeggstrasse 4

8034 Zurich, Switzerland

1998 sales: $6.985 billion

http://www.a-l.ch

All Swiss, and a lot more. Alusuisse Lonza Group (also known as Algroup) is a diversified industrial group with operations that include aluminum production, pharmaceutical and cosmetics packaging, food and tobacco packaging, and fine chemicals and specialty chemicals. Recently ditched merger plans with viag of Germany after failing to agree on terms. The company now has agreed to combine its aluminum and packaging operations with Canada's Alcan Aluminium and France's Pechiney to form Alcan-Pechiney-Algroup (or APA), which will be one of the world's largest aluminum producers, rivaling Alcoa. Alusuisse Lonza will spin off its chemical and energy businesses to form a new company, Lonza Group Ltd. Top competitor: viag.

Pechiney S.A.

10, place des Vosges, La Defense 5

92400 Courbevoie, France

1998 sales: $11.754 billion

http://www.pechiney.com

Squeeze that tube of toothpaste and you'll get a little taste of Pechiney. The company, which is merging with Alcan Aluminium (Canada) and Alusuisse Lonza (Switzerland), also makes semi-finished sheet and specialty products, extrusions, and metal and plastic packaging and is involved in ferroalloy manufacturing and international trade. The packaging division produces laminated ointment tubes, aerosol cans, and plastic packaging for cosmetics and perfumes. Pechiney still owns 45% of canmaker American National Can. Pechiney, with origins tracing back to 1855, operates bauxite and alumina mines in Europe and the Pacific Rim and sells its smelting and alumina-refining technology worldwide. Top competitors are: Alcan, Alcoa, Crown Cork & Seal.

Reynolds Metals Co.

6601 W. Broad St.

Richmond, VA 23261-7003

1998 sales: $5.859 billion

http://www.rmc.com

Alcoa is buying and absorbing Reynolds Metals, which isn't just wrapped up in aluminum. The #3 aluminum producer in the U.S. (after Alcoa and Alcan), best known for Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil, offers consumer products such as plastic wrap and wax paper. The company's other units produce aluminum, manufacture and distribute construction materials and aluminum products, make packaging materials, and produce lightweight aluminum car parts (heat pumps and wheels) for the automotive industry. The company has sold many of its subsidiaries to pay down debt and focus on internal growth. Reynolds Metals operates more than 100 facilities in 24 countries. It is the parent of Reynolds Aluminum Supply Company (rasco), which ranks 13 at $954 million in 1998 sales in Purchasing Magazine's Top 100 Metal Service Centers for 1999. Top competitors: Alcan, Alcoa, Pechiney.

SOURCE: HOOVER'S INDUSTRY SNAPSHOTS; Purchasing