Alcoa reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped analysts' expectations on Tuesday.
Alcoa's headquarters in Pittsburgh.The company also backed its projection that aluminum demand will double between 2010 and 2020.
"We see the aluminum market as fundamentally strong … but the market has forgotten the fundamentals and sentiment dominates the pricing," said the company's CEO Klaus Kleinfeld on CNBC.
He added that the company is also seeing "good growth" in the aerospace segment as well as the U.S. automotive business.
After the earnings announcement, the largest U.S. aluminum producer's shares (AA) rose in extended-hours trading.
The company reported a net loss of $143 million, or 13 cents per share, compared with a profit of $172 million, or 15 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.
Excluding charges from the settlement of a civil lawsuit and environmental remediation of a New York state river, earnings were 3 cents per share, down from 15 cents a share in the year-earlier period.
[ More From CNBC: Yum Raises Outlook Despite Signs of China Slowdown ]
Revenue decreased 9 percent to $5.83 billion from $6.42 billion a year ago.
Analysts had expected the company to break even on earnings and report $5.54 billion in revenue, according to a consensus estimate from Thomson Reuters.
Alcoa's report is traditionally considered the unofficial kickoff of earnings season. Analysts expect overall earnings to decline for S&P 500 (.spx) companies in what is forecast to be one of the worst quarterly seasons since late 2009.
More From CNBC
