Airbus, Alcoa ink deal

Alcoa signed new multiyear agreements valued at about $1.4 billion to supply Airbus with products for virtually all of the passenger-jet maker's commercial programs. Alcoa will supply aluminum and aluminum-lithium wing parts and fuselage panels for Airbus's A320 and A380 jetliners as well as the A350 still in development. Alcoa has stepped up its aluminum-lithium offerings as competition has intensified from carbon-fiber reinforced plastic. (Source: MarketWatch, NASDAQ, 07/11/12) Gulf Coast note: Airbus plans to build an assembly line for A320 jetliners at Brookley Aeroplex in Mobile, Ala.