Chuck McLane doesn't mince words. Named CFO of Alcoain early 2007 and then promoted to executive vice president by theend of the year, he found himself confronting a crisis in 2008.“Commodities are 80% of our business, and aluminum prices hadfallen 60% between late 2008 and the first quarter of 2009,” hesays, “and demand from our customers in almost every region butChina was down 20% to 50%. It was a case of, if we don't dosomething, we won't be here in a few years.”

Alcoa, with $26 billion in 2008 sales, was “in a bad state” interms of liquidity, McLane says. The global economic crisis caughtthe company just as it was finishing a major growth program,resulting in free cash flow of negative $1 billion in the first twomonths of 2009.