Alcoa expects the government economic-stimulus spending in China and the US to boost metal demand and help turnaround its ailing balance sheet, Bloomberg reported. Alcoa CEO Klaus Kleinfeld said that China’s stimulus measures have already spurred infrastructure projects and encouraged consumer spending, pushing domestic aluminum demand beyond supply for the first time since the global recession forced metal producers to curtail output. The struggling firm is relying on a continued strength in China, as well as a similar revival in consumer demand in the US, to drive up metals demand in the construction, autos and white goods industries. Alcoa, which was the first company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to announce its results for the second quarter, reported a loss excluding certain items of US$0.26 a share. This beat analysts’ expectations of a US$0.38 drop.