US aluminium giant Alcoa beat expectations in the third quarter despite weak metal prices and worries about China's slowing economy.

The firm, which is traditionally the first on the S&P 500 to report quarterly earnings, noted stronger demand for aluminium parts from aeroplane and car manufacturers.

However, it also said it had seen demand slow, particularly from China, and lowered its global aluminium consumption outlook for 2012 to 6% growth from 7% previously.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Klaus Kleinfeld said that he expected the market to pick up.

"I'm pretty confident given the already announced China stimulus package which is going into the ground ... [it] will be picking up speed but this is probably going to take until the end of the fourth quarter," he told analysts.

The company posted a net loss of $143m, or 13c per share, compared with a profit of $172m, or 15c per share, in the same quarter of 2011.

However, after two large settlements were excluded, Alcoa posted a profit of 3c per share, which was better than the break-even estimate forecast by analysts.

Revenue fell 9% to $5.8bn, as a result of a 17% drop in aluminium prices compared to the year before.

One of the settlements was over bribery accusations in Bahrain, where the firm agreed to pay local partner Aluminium Bahrain a total of $85m, but without accepting any liability.

The Bahraini firm had accused Alcoa of using a businessman to organise bribery in the country, as well as overcharging it for alumina, one of the raw material used to make aluminium.

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