Latest news with #Pittsburgh-based
Mint
2 days ago
- Business
- Mint
Alcoa CEO Says Trump Tariffs Force a Pause for Canada Growth Projects
(Bloomberg) -- Alcoa Corp., the storied US metals producer, is feeling the pinch of President Donald Trump's tariffs and has been forced to pause work on all its growth projects underway in Canada. If the levies stay in place, Chief Executive Officer Bill Oplinger warns that the American manufacturer may need to turn to the Canadian government for help. For now, Oplinger said he's waiting until Aug. 1 — the negotiation deadline for a new economic and security deal between Canada and the US — to decide whether Alcoa will push for assistance from the Canadian government, financial or otherwise, to support the aluminum operations the company has in Quebec. 'The profitability of Quebec is severely impacted,' Oplinger said in a Friday interview. 'The longer this goes, the more damage it will do to the competitiveness of the Quebec assets. And the Canadian government understands that.' Alcoa's challenges show how US levies on aluminum, aimed at boosting American manufacturing, are now hurting the largest US producer of the metal used in everything from soda cans to cars. While Pittsburgh-based Alcoa has a lot of domestic production, it also depends on operations in Canada to meet demand. The company owns three smelting and casting facilities in Quebec that largely feed American customers. The firm is typically one of the largest suppliers to the US, but is now rerouting cargoes because of the levies. 'We're doing everything we possibly can to ship tons that are normally destined for the US to other parts of the world,' Oplinger said. Oplinger's comments follow an earnings report on Wednesday that revealed Alcoa paid an additional $115 million in tariff-related costs in the second quarter. The company could look into lobbying both Canada's federal government and the Quebec government for support if tariffs stay in place. The firm is among many metal producers navigating trade tumult after the Trump administration raised US import tariffs on steel and aluminum — first to 25% in March, and then to 50% in June. Rio Tinto Plc said Wednesday that its Canadian-made aluminum generated costs of more than $300 million in the first half due to tariffs. The company also told local media in June that it implemented a hiring freeze at smelters across Quebec. Alcoa's executives are now 'looking very hard at capital investments' in Quebec, Oplinger said. 'The plans we had for growth projects in Quebec are on hold until we have some resolution on the tariffs.' Nearly 40% of Alcoa's metal produced in Quebec can be diverted to non-US customers, mostly in Europe and elsewhere in Canada, though weakened demand overseas has hampered the prospects for producers to reroute shipments entirely. The company has warned it could face further tariff costs if Trump follows through on threats to place 50% tariffs on Brazil, where Alcoa sources alumina to feed its US plants. Oplinger said he's now deciding whether to preemptively source alumina outside of Brazil in anticipation of those prospective levies. The Alcoa executive was appointed CEO in 2023 after serving as the firm's Chief Operations Officer and, previously, Chief Financial Officer. 'I've been with Alcoa for over 25 years and I think this is easily the most extreme trade uncertainty we've seen,' he said on Friday. --With assistance from Mathieu Dion. More stories like this are available on
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Alcoa Says Trump Tariff Added $115 Million in Aluminum Costs
(Bloomberg) -- Alcoa Corp., the largest US aluminum producer, said tariffs on imports from Canada cost it $115 million in the second quarter, showing how US President Donald Trump's trade agenda has affected the industry. The Dutch Intersection Is Coming to Save Your Life Advocates Fear US Agents Are Using 'Wellness Checks' on Children as a Prelude to Arrests LA Homelessness Drops for Second Year Manhattan, Chicago Murder Rates Drop in 2025, Officials Say The company redirected Canadian produced aluminum to customers outside the US to mitigate additional tariff costs, it said Wednesday while reporting earnings that beat analyst estimates. Alcoa shares rose as much as 6.4% Thursday in New York, the biggest intraday increase since June 26. Metal producers are navigating the trade tumult Trump created after raising import tariffs on steel and aluminum, first to 25% in March and then to 50% in June, in an effort to revive domestic production. Alcoa's latest toll from tariffs is about six times more than in the first quarter when the Pittsburgh-based firm said the levies, which were then 25%, had cost it an additional $20 million. Mining giant Rio Tinto Group also revealed Wednesday that its Canada-made aluminum generated costs of more than $300 million in the first half due to the tariffs. Alcoa has had extensive conversations with administrations on both sides of the border, including directly with Trump, Alcoa Chief Executive Officer William Oplinger said on a call following the earnings report. Oplinger has repeatedly warned US customers will bear the costs of tariffs on aluminum producers. 'While we're not particularly thrilled with the tariffs,' he said, 'our customers are paying significantly higher for aluminum in the United States than anywhere else in the world.' (Updates with share price) How Starbucks' CEO Plans to Tame the Rush-Hour Free-for-All What the Tough Job Market for New College Grads Says About the Economy Forget DOGE. Musk Is Suddenly All In on AI The Quest for a Hangover-Free Buzz How Hims Became the King of Knockoff Weight-Loss Drugs ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Journals
5 days ago
- Business
- Business Journals
Report: Local unicorn Skild AI sets up an office in the San Francisco area
Skild AI, a Pittsburgh-based artificial intelligence startup, is spreading its wings beyond Pennsylvania. The company's new office space in Silicon Valley hints at ambitious growth plans for this rising tech star.
San Francisco Chronicle
6 days ago
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Trump and Sen. Dave McCormick team up to promote energy investments in Pennsylvania
PITTSBURGH (AP) — President Donald Trump and Sen. David McCormick of Pennsylvania will jointly announce roughly $70 billion of energy investments in the state Tuesday as the president travels to Pittsburgh for a conference with dozens of top executives to promote his energy and technology agenda. The Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit will be held at Carnegie Mellon University, and it comes as the state's political and business leaders are working to forge the city into a hub for robotics, artificial intelligence and energy. Trump has repeatedly pledged U.S. 'energy dominance' in the global market, and Pennsylvania — a swing state critical to his wins in 2016 and 2024 — is at the forefront of that agenda, in large part due to its coal industry that the Republican administration has taken several steps to bolster. Neither the White House nor McCormick's office gave breakdowns of the $70 billion or what the investments entail. Some hints began emerging Tuesday with AI cloud computing firm CoreWeave saying it will spend more than $6 billion to equip a data center in southcentral Pennsylvania and Gradiant saying it will begin commercial production of lithium in 2026 by extracting it from gas drilling wastewater in northeastern Pennsylvania. McCormick, a Republican first-term senator who is organizing the inaugural event, says the summit is meant to bring together top energy companies and AI leaders, global investors and labor behind Trump's energy policies and priorities. He says the investments will spur tens of thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania. 'Pennsylvania is uniquely positioned because of abundant energy, of incredible skilled workers, technology,' McCormick said in a Fox News interview Monday promoting the summit. 'We need to win the battle for AI innovation in America, and Pennsylvania is at the center of it.' The list of participating CEOs includes leaders from global behemoths like Blackstone, Bridgewater, SoftBank, Amazon Web Services, BlackRock and ExxonMobil and local companies such as the Pittsburgh-based Gecko Robotics, which deploys AI to bolster energy capacity. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, will also attend. Administration officials speaking at the summit include White House crypto czar David Sacks, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum also will attend, McCormick's office said. In the Fox News interview, McCormick credited his wife, Dina Powell McCormick, with the idea for a summit. Powell McCormick served as Trump's deputy national security adviser in his first term and is a former Goldman Sachs executive who is now at BDT & MSD Partners, a merchant bank. Pittsburgh is home to Carnegie Mellon University, a prestigious engineering school, plus a growing industry of small robotics firms and a so-called ' AI Avenue ' that's home to offices for Google and other AI firms. It also sits in the middle of the prolific Marcellus Shale natural gas reservoir. Pennsylvania has scored several big investment wins in recent months, some of it driven by federal manufacturing policy and others by the ravenous need for electricity from the fast-growing AI business. Nippon Steel just bought U.S. Steel for almost $15 billion, getting Trump's approval after pledging to invest billions alone in U.S. Steel's Pittsburgh-area plants. Amazon will spend $20 billion on two data center complexes in Pennsylvania, with more to come, while a one-time coal-fired power plant is being turned into the nation's largest gas-fired power plant to fuel a data center campus. Meanwhile, Microsoft says it is spending $1.6 billion to reopen the lone functional nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island under a long-term power supply agreement for its data centers. Shapiro, elected in 2022, has been pushing for the state to land a big multibillion-dollar industrial project, like a semiconductor factory or an electric vehicle plant. In his first budget speech, Shapiro — who is viewed as a potential White House contender in 2028 — told lawmakers that Pennsylvania needs to 'get in the game' and warned that it would take money. He didn't land a mega project, but he instead has worked to play up big investments by Amazon and Microsoft, as well as Nippon Steel, as he prepares to seek a second term.
The Hill
6 days ago
- Business
- The Hill
Trump and Sen. Dave McCormick team up to promote energy investments in Pennsylvania
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Sen. David McCormick of Pennsylvania will jointly announce roughly $70 billion of energy investments in the state Tuesday as the president travels to Pittsburgh for a conference with dozens of top executives to promote his energy and technology agenda. The Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit will be held at Carnegie Mellon University, and it comes as the state's political and business leaders are working to forge the city into a hub for robotics, artificial intelligence and energy. Trump has repeatedly pledged U.S. 'energy dominance' in the global market, and Pennsylvania — a swing state critical to his wins in 2016 and 2024 — is at the forefront of that agenda, in large part due to its coal industry that the Republican administration has taken several steps to bolster. Neither the White House nor McCormick's office gave breakdowns of the $70 billion or what the investments entail. McCormick, a Republican first-term senator who is organizing the inaugural event, says the summit is meant to bring together top energy companies and AI leaders, global investors and labor behind Trump's energy policies and priorities. He says the investments will spur tens of thousands of jobs in Pennsylvania. 'Pennsylvania is uniquely positioned because of abundant energy, of incredible skilled workers, technology,' McCormick said in a Fox News interview Monday promoting the summit. 'We need to win the battle for AI innovation in America, and Pennsylvania is at the center of it.' The list of participating CEOs includes leaders from global behemoths like Blackstone, SoftBank, Amazon Web Services, BlackRock and ExxonMobil and local companies such as the Pittsburgh-based Gecko Robotics, which deploys AI to bolster energy capacity. Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, will also attend. Administration officials speaking at the summit include White House crypto czar David Sacks, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. In the Fox News interview, McCormick credited his wife, Dina Powell McCormick, with the idea for a summit. Powell McCormick served as Trump's deputy national security adviser in his first term and is a former Goldman Sachs executive who is now at BDT & MSD Partners, a merchant bank. Pittsburgh is home to Carnegie Mellon University, a prestigious engineering school, plus a growing industry of small robotics firms and a so-called ' AI Avenue ' that's home to offices for Google and other AI firms. It also sits in the middle of the prolific Marcellus Shale natural gas reservoir. Pennsylvania has scored several big investment wins in recent months, some of it driven by federal manufacturing policy and others by the ravenous need for electricity from the fast-growing AI business. Nippon Steel just bought U.S. Steel for almost $15 billion, getting Trump's approval after pledging to invest billions alone in U.S. Steel's Pittsburgh-area plants. Amazon will spend $20 billion on two data center complexes in Pennsylvania, with more to come, while a one-time coal-fired power plant is being turned into the nation's largest gas-fired power plant to fuel a data center campus. Meanwhile, Microsoft says it is spending $1.6 billion to reopen the lone functional nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island under a long-term power supply agreement for its data centers. Shapiro, elected in 2022, has been pushing for the state to land a big multibillion-dollar industrial project, like a semiconductor factory or an electric vehicle plant. In his first budget speech, Shapiro — who is viewed as a potential White House contender in 2028 — told lawmakers that Pennsylvania needs to 'get in the game' and warned that it would take money. He didn't land a mega project, but he instead has worked to play up big investments by Amazon and Microsoft, as well as Nippon Steel, as he prepares to seek a second term.
