Boston, MA 10/16/2013 (wallstreetpr) – Alcoa Inc (NYSE:AA) is the China’s largest foreign investor. The company is committed to China’s growth story. Now this has attracted the attention of the Nation Committee on US-China Relations which is set to honor its CEO Klaus Kleinfeld this at an annual dinner today.
Since 1993, the aluminum producer has invested $800 in the Chinese economy earning it the fete of the biggest foreign investor in aluminum industry in China. And doing this, according to the US-China Committee, has lead to constructive relations between the two countries and largest economies of the world.
In the honor of Alcoa’s founder, the awarding committee has gone back into history to justify its reason for feting the CEO. One such historical piece is that when Charles Martin Hall, Alcoa founder, established the Harvard-Yenching Institute way back in 1928, the intent was to support educational sponsorships to bridge the cultural understanding between US and China.
Today, Alcoa has facilities in Shanghai, Beijing and Suzhou and these have been able to help millions of Chinese out of poverty. Then of course, Alcoa is billed as the Top Green Company in China for its efforts to cut its carbon footprint in the country through a host of breakthrough technologies.
Even though Alcoa CEO is being feted, something that is no far from CEO’s is the challenges his company is grappling with. It may have helped create a better China, yes. It may have built world-class cities in the country, yes. And it may have been able to foster globally competitive businesses, but the history will quickly forget the company if it doesn’t up its game in the face of seemingly dwindling fortunes in the aluminum industry.
In September, Alcoa lost its spot at the Dow Jones Industrial Average after it fell into the pit of the smallest company among the widely watched blue-chip index. However, just the previous week, the company realize larger than expected profit, which worked up confidence among investors. It has also upwardly reviewed its global aluminum demand by significant percentages.
