Canada’s eighth-biggest company, Alcan employs about 65,000 workers in 61 countries.
Some 40% of Alcan employees work in Europe, 32% toil in North America while 10% produce in Asia. Brazil and Australia each represent 1.5% of Alcan’s total headcount, with other countries accounting for the remainder.
Also according to Alcan’s annual report filed on sedar.com, the Canadian aluminum maker generated 2006 revenues of US$23.6 billion. This is an annual increase of more than 16%. Alcan’s percentage sales by geographic market are shown below.
- Europe … 45% of 2006 total revenues
- North America … 37%
- Asia-Pacific & Africa … 17%
- South America … 1%.
2006 Alcan Revenues by Producing Country
Listed below are countries that are home to Alcan’s highest-producing operations.
- U.S. … US$5.8 billion (21.5% of 2006 total revenues, up 21.5% from 2005)
- France … $4.9 billion (20.7%, up 22.7%)
- Canada … $3.2 billion (13.7%, up 7.4%)
- Switzerland … $2 billion (8.6%, down 6.1%)
- Germany … $1.8 billion (7.4%, up 8.8%)
- United Kingdom … $1.3 billion (5.3%, up 8.7%)
- Australia … $1 billion (4.3%, up 39.7%).
Over 80% of Alcan’s worldwide revenues originated from products made in the above countries.
2006 Alcan Revenues by Purchasing Country
As the following statistics show, clients in America bought the highest percentage of Alcan’s offerings in 2006.
- U.S. … US$6.9 billion (29.2% of 2006 total revenues, up 16% from 2005)
- France … $2.4 billion (10.3%, up 8.6%)
- Germany … $2.3 billion (9.8%, up 16.4%)
- United Kingdom … $1.8 billion (7.6%, up 8.9%)
- Canada … $1.7 billion (7.1%, up 17.5%)
- Australia … $890 million (3.8%, up 111%)
- Brazil… $255 million (1.1%, up 15.4%).
The above countries generated almost 70% of Alcan’s total sales.
Alcan’s Operating Segments
Alcan’s global operations are organized by four major business groups.
- Bauxite & Alumina mining and refining (about 6% of Alcan’s total revenues) from 6 bauxite mines and deposits in 5 countries, 5 alumina plants in 4 countries, plus 6 specialty alumina plants in 3 countries.
- Primary Metal smelters and power generation (over 36% of Alcan’s total revenues) from 22 smelters in 11 countries.
- Engineered Products including cable, wire and fibre-reinforced plastic (over 30% of Alcan’s total revenues) from 55 plants in 12 countries with 33 service centers in 11 countries plus 32 sales offices in 27 countries.
- Packaging Operations (about 27% of Alcan’s total revenues) has 130 plants in 30 countries that serve the following industries: food (64% of packaged goods); pharmaceutical (16%); beauty (12%); and tobacco (8%).
Canadian or International Trade Success?
The notion that Alcan is an attractive international trade success story is reinforced by the fact that Alcan maintains operational head offices in both Canada and France. Canada’s second-largest city Montreal is the headquarters for the Bauxite & Alumina and Primary Metal business groups, while Paris is the headquarters for the Engineered Products and Packaging Operations.
On the other side of the coin, the international scope of Alcan’s businesses means that antitrust authorities in Canada, America, Europe, Australia and Brazil must review Alcoa’s recent US$33 billion takeover offer. Canada, France and Australia must also approve the bid as a foreign investment.
Given that Alcan’s Paris headquarters appear to be at risk in the deal, gaining France’s approval could prove difficult.
Daniel Workman - A senior business and finance writer who also does French translations, notably international trade and insurance materials.
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