Alcoa plans up to $1bn in assets sales as demand plunges

To weather a dimming global growth outlook, the largest US aluminum producer plans to get leaner in the next 18 months, selling non-core assets after its worst streak of quarterly losses in at least three years.

Alcoa predicts world demand may contract by as much 0.6%, reversing a July outlook for growth of at least 1.25%. The forecast came a day after the International Monetary Fund cut to its 2019 global growth forecast this week, citing a broad deceleration across the largest economies.