Aluminum producer Arconic corporation laid off 24 employees from its Massena facility due to reduced production levels during the pandemic.
The company had shut down most of its plants as the spread of virus increased, however it re-commenced its Massena operations from April 21.
Arconic corporation’s subsidiary company Howmet Aerospace published its Q1 2020 results. The companies separated on April 1st this year and were formerly known as Arconic Inc together. Howmet results entail numbers from Engineered Products and Forgings (EP&F) and Global Rolled Products (GRP).
Howmet’s total sales in Q1 2020 was down to $3.2bn from $3.5bn in Q1 2019 and $3.4bn in Q4 2019.
GRP’s third-party shipment fell to 312,000mt in the first quarter of the year compared to 331,000mt in Q1 2019 and 330,000mt in Q4 2019. As a result, third party sales at GRP dropped to $1.57bn from $1.78bn in Q1 2019 and $1.66bn in Q4 2019.
GRP’s annual revenue also saw a 12pc decrease to $1.6bn. This drop in GRP’s sales and revenue was due to drop in production driven by COVID-19 and 737 MAX production declines.
Howmet’s total net income however saw an increase in Q1 2020 to $215mn from $187mn in Q1 2019; but it saw a decline from $309mn in Q4 2019.
According to Howmet’s executive chairman and co-chief executive officer, John Plant; both Arconic corporation and Howmet Aerospace are focusing on cost reductions to get through such tough times. He further added that the company’s cash balances are at more than two times the amount needed at the moment and look healthy to sustain.