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Aleris Corporation, Cleveland, reported a net loss of $107 million in the fourth quarter and $211 million for the full year. In 2016, the company reported a fourth-quarter loss of $35 million and a full-year loss of $76 million.

Net revenue increased 13.2 percent in the fourth quarter to $694 million and was up 7.2 percent to $2.86 billion for the full year. The revenue gains were made despite lower fourth-quarter and full-year shipments of finished products.   

"2017 was a successful and pivotal year at Aleris," Sean Stack, Aleris chairman and CEO said at the company’s quarterly conference call with investors and analysts. "Our North America automotive project is substantially qualified and producing customer material, our major Lewisport outage is complete, and our key aerospace contracts have been renewed with higher shares. We are poised to begin the realization of our strategic vision and investments."

Lower volumes were largely offset by an improved mix of products sold, including a 6 percent increase in both global aerospace and global automotive volumes. The volume decrease resulted primarily from the commissioning of the company’s Lewisport hot mill after an extended planned outage that was completed in the third quarter. In addition, prior-year North America building and construction volumes benefited as delinquent orders, following unexpected outages earlier in 2016, were filled.

Looking ahead, the company forecasts 2018 full-year segment income to be substantially higher than the prior year, with meaningful improvements beginning in the second quarter. Gains are based on the ramp up of shipments at Lewisport, increased aerospace volumes following industry destocking, growth in the European automotive model, and favorable scrap spread, particularly in the first half.