Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, will cut 250 jobs at a plant in Hampton because of falling parts orders for industrial gas turbines. The reductions represent about 24 percent of the 1,060 workers employed at the Alcoa Howmet plant, which is part of the company’s power and propulsion division, spokeswoman Jean Moorman said.

Alcoa Howmet is laying off 250 workers, or nearly a quarter of its work force, at its Hampton manufacturing plant.

Painful cost-cutting and rising sales to automakers helped the nation’s largest aluminum producer return to profitability for the first time in nine months. Alcoa Inc. yesterday also forecast an 11 percent increase in worldwide aluminum demand for the rest of the year. The lightweight metal is used in everything from airplanes to cars to houses.

The owner of the Lady Byrd Hat building on Richmond’s Canal Walk hopes to have a restaurant and live-music venue in the former Toad’s Place by this fall. “We are very close to something very exciting for that space,“ said Margaret Freund, owner of Fulton Hill Properties. She would not identify her prospects but said she’s working to address issues related to signs, parking and use of the Canal Walk to help the next tenant open with solid footing.

Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, yesterday reported a second-quarter loss of $454 million—smaller than analysts’ estimates after production cuts and work-force reductions helped the company save money. It was Alcoa’s third straight quarterly loss and fresh evidence of slumping orders from key customers in the aerospace, automotive and construction industries as the global recession continued to dampen demand and prices for the lightweight metal.

In a bleak start to the earnings season, Alcoa Inc. reported a quarterly loss of $497 million as the stumbling global economy continued to erode prices and demand for the aluminum maker’s products. The Pittsburgh-based company that acquired Henrico County-based Reynolds Metals Co. in 2000 said yesterday that it expects further industrywide production cuts as demand for the lightweight metal remains weak in the coming months.