Aluminum giant Alcoa has released its Q4 financial results, kicking off earnings season.
The numbers are mixed.
Alcoa generated revenue of $5.25 billion, which was a bit lighter than the expected $5.30 billion.
Earnings excluding nonrecurring items came in at $0.04 per share, beat the expectation for $0.02.
Shares are up 3% in after-hours trading.
As a global supplier of a key industrial metal, Alcoa is considered a bellwether of the economy.
Like many companies in the commodities business, Alcoa has been challenged by plummeting prices as the global economy has cooled.
"In the Upstream, we faced harsh headwinds with prices for alumina down 43% and aluminum down 28%," CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said. "As a result of our closures, curtailments, productivity actions and new business structure we improved competitiveness and strengthened the portfolio."
In 2016, management forecasts 8% to 9% growth in aerospace products and 1% to 4% growth in automotive products. Building and construction products are expected to grow 4% to 6%.
"In 2016, Alcoa expects a global aluminum deficit of 1.2 million metric tons and a global alumina deficit of 2.8 million metric tons due to global curtailments," management said. "The Company also projects record global aluminum demand in 2016 of 60.5 million metric tons, up 6 percent over 2015.
"Global aluminum demand is expected to double between 2010 and 2020; so far this decade, global demand growth is tracking ahead of this projection."

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