Alcoa Chief Executive, Klaus Kleinfeld, was named CEO of the Year at the 2014 Platts Global Metals Awards ceremony held in London. The recognition caps off a transformational year for Alcoa, as it pivots from a commodity-centric focus to become a diversified lightweight metals enterprise.
Judging criteria for CEO of the Year included integrity, leadership, decisiveness, strategic vision and peer recognition.
“I am truly honored to receive this recognition as we guide Alcoa through the greatest transformation in the Company’s recent history,” Kleinfeld commented.
“We are transforming Alcoa from a commodity-dominated company to a lightweight metals innovation leader that is significantly stronger and better-positioned to maximize profitable growth. It is only through the ingenuity and passion of our 60,000 Alcoans that any of this is possible, and I wholeheartedly dedicate this award to them.”
Alcoa has been investing in its highly innovative value-added manufacturing and engineering businesses to capture growth opportunities in strong end markets like the automotive and aerospace industries.
At the same time, the company is lowering the cost base of its commodity business, closing or curtailing high-cost global smelting capacity and investing in the world’s lowest cost integrated aluminum production facility in Saudi Arabia.
Alcoa's value-add businesses accounted for 57 percent of 2013 revenues and 80 percent of segment profits in 2013, a 10 percentage point profit increase over 2012.