TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Lightweight alloys specialist Alcoa has clinched long-term supply contracts valued at more than $2.5-billion with US airliner manufacturer Boeing.

NYSE-listed Alcoa would supply Boeing with multi-material fastening systems for every Boeing platform in its largest fastener deal ever. It would also supply ready-to-install titanium seat track assemblies for the entire 787 Dreamliner family.

“Alcoa has positioned itself to win in a multi-material aerospace industry, and these deals are the latest proof points that our strategy is working. We are proud to partner with Boeing as it delivers sophisticated airplanes to meet the world’s increasing demand for air travel,” Alcoa chairperson and CEO Klaus Kleinfeld stated.

Under a single contract, Alcoa Fastening Systems & Rings would supply advanced titanium, stainless steel, alloy steel, aluminium and nickel-based superalloy fastening systems for every Boeing platform, including Boeing’s newest commercial airplane, the 777X; the 737 MAX, that was scheduled for first delivery in 2017; and the 787 Dreamliner.

Alcoa also announced a second agreement under which it became the sole supplier of ready-to-install titanium seat track assemblies for all three members of the 787 Dreamliner family of airplanes. RTI International Metals (RTI), now known as Alcoa Titanium & Engineered Products (ATEP), had provided seat tracks for the 787-9 and 787-8 variants under a contract signed in 2007.

This contract, as amended by RTI and Boeing immediately before the acquisition, reinforced ATEP’s position on those models of aircraft and added seat tracks for the 787-10. Seat tracks were critical structural assemblies that mount to the floor of the airplane, secured passenger seats and reinforced the structure of the fuselage. Titanium seat tracks were stronger, weighed less and offered superior corrosion resistance compared with traditional materials, Alco advised.

Alcoa was supplying the seat tracks, from raw material to finished part, by using its titanium ingot melting and billetising, extrusion, machining, processing and assembly capabilities gained through the $1.5-billion RTI acquisition in March.

The company noted that these contracts built on last year’s deal with Boeing for flat-rolled aluminium sheet and plate products, valued at more than $1-billion. That agreement established Alcoa as a sole supplier to Boeing for wing skins on all of its metallic structure airplanes.

Alcoa plate products, used in applications such as wing ribs, wing skins or other structural parts of the aircraft, were used on every Boeing platform, including the 787. The agreement also established deeper collaboration on new, high-strength and corrosion-resistant alloys, including aluminium-lithium.

Alcoa in October also announced that it had struck a $1-billion contract with Airbus to supply multimaterial aerospace fastening systems for use on the European aircraft manufacturer's latest aircraft.

Alcoa had in recent years been transforming its strategic business focus away from primary refining and smelting capacity to focus more on the downstream aerospace and automotive products sectors.