Alcoa Inc. on Monday said it signed a $1 billion deal to supply airplane maker Airbus Group SE with bolts, rivets and other pieces used to hold planes together.
The contract, which New York-based Alcoa calls its largest deal for aerospace fastening systems with Airbus, comes just a week after the 127-year-old aluminum maker said it would split itself in two.
The parts, to be made from titanium, steel and nickel-based alloys at 14 factories, will be used on planes including the Airbus A350; the Toulouse, France-based plane maker’s newest commercial aircraft, the A320neo; and the A330.
The pieces, designed to withstand lightning strikes and be more resistant to wear, will be used in the assembly of panels and engine pylons on newer planes, Alcoa said.
Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld called the fastening systems “breakthrough technologies for some of the most advanced aircraft in the world.” Alcoa also has supply agreements with Airbus rival Boeing Co.
Airbus confirmed the deal, saying most of the work for the contract would be completed in California, and at more than a dozen Alcoa sites worldwide.
The company’s raw-aluminum business has been battered by falling aluminum prices, driven by booming Chinese exports.
Last week, the company said its mining, processing and smelting divisions would next year become a separate company, still called Alcoa.
A second company, the name of which has yet to be determined, will be spun off and focus on making parts and pieces for airplanes and cars, including in deals such as the Airbus contract. That company is expected to be the more profitable one.
