Kaiser Aluminum makes semi-fabricated aluminum products — plates, sheets, coils, rods, bars, tubes, and extruded shapes — that manufacturers use to build aircraft components, beverage cans, automotive parts, and industrial equipment. Kaiser does not sell finished products; it sells the processed aluminum that others fabricate into end products. Kaiser operates across four end markets: Aerospace & High-Strength (Aero/HS), Packaging, General Engineering (GE), and Automotive Extrusions. Aero/HS serves commercial aerospace, defense, and space customers with heat-treated plate and sheet requiring specialized alloys and decades of metallurgical expertise. Packaging, run out of Kaiser's dedicated Warrick, Indiana facility, supplies North American beverage and food can makers with coated and bare aluminum coil. GE sells standard plate, rod, bar, and tube to service centers for industrial applications. Automotive supplies extruded aluminum structural and crash components to North American tier one suppliers. Kaiser's core economic model is built around "conversion revenue" — the premium it earns for converting raw aluminum into value-added products, largely insulated from aluminum price swings through pass-through contracts and hedging. Profitability is driven by product mix, volume, and manufacturing efficiency. Kaiser has recently completed two major capacity investments: a plate expansion at its Trentwood facility to support aerospace demand, and a fourth coating line at Warrick to shift packaging output toward higher-margin coated products. With major capital spending now largely behind it, Kaiser is focused on ramping those investments, expanding margins, and reducing debt.
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