Alcoa Corp. Beats Revenue Estimates; Amazon Will Now Ship From China

by Jeff Yoders on JANUARY 26, 2017

Alcoa Corp. reported higher-than-expected revenue in its first quarterly results after the metals company split into two in November, helped partly by a rise in alumina prices.

The producer of aluminum, alumina and bauxite also said it expects a 4% growth in global aluminum demand in 2017 even as the market remains modestly oversupplied.

Amazon.com Inc. is taking to the high seas.

The online retail giant has begun handling shipment of goods by ocean to its U.S. warehouses from Chinese merchants selling on its site — taking on a role it previously left to global freight-transportation companies, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The move marks Amazon’s latest step in a multiyear effort to build out its delivery business. The company doesn’t own or operate ships, but is openly acting as a global freight forwarder and third-party logistics provider, categories of companies that book space on ocean vessels and truck goods between ports and warehouses.