Alcoa Completes Sale of South American PET Business

PITTSBURGH--Oct. 3, 2003--Alcoa today announced it has completed the sale of its polyethylene terephthalate (PET) packaging business in South America to Amcor PET Packaging for $75 million in cash.

The sale is part of Alcoa's previously announced divestiture program to sell certain non-core businesses. Proceeds from the sale will be used to pay down debt.

Alcoa will continue to serve customers in the packaging and beverage industry throughout Latin America through its other packaging businesses, including closures. With the completion of the sale, Alcoa has more than 10 facilities in Latin America serving packaging and beverage customers in Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Argentina. To better serve customers, Alcoa's South American closures business will become part of the global Alcoa Closure Systems International business.

Alcoa is the world's leading producer of primary aluminum, fabricated aluminum and alumina, and is active in all major aspects of the industry. Alcoa serves the aerospace, automotive, packaging, building and construction, commercial transportation and industrial markets, bringing design, engineering, production and other capabilities of Alcoa's businesses as a single solution to customers. In addition to aluminum products and components, Alcoa also markets consumer brands including Reynolds Wrap(R) aluminum foil, Alcoa(R) wheels, and Baco(R) household wraps. Among its other businesses are vinyl siding, closures, fastening systems, precision castings, and electrical distribution systems for cars and trucks. The company has 127,000 employees in 40 countries. For more information go to www.alcoa.com