Alcoa to immediately slash production by 15 percent

Alcoa Inc. said Monday it is cutting annual aluminum production by 15 percent immediately because of lower demand and the soft global economy.

Alcoa, which has its corporate center on Pittsburgh's North Shore, said the cutbacks will reduce annual production by 615,000 tons, which will cost the company a yet-to-be determined amount of money. The affect on jobs has not been determined, said spokesman Kevin Lowery.

"The industry is in a surplus and has experienced an unprecedented fall in aluminum prices over a very short period of time," said Bernt Reitan, Alcoa's president for global primary products.

Alcoa said it was cutting 350,000 tons a year, including output from smelters in Ferndale, Wash., and Quebec. Alcoa had previously said it would curtail production of 265,000 metric tons at its Rockdale, Texas, plant.

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