Total aluminum supply in the US increased by 4.6pc in September 2024 from a year earlier, led by a bump in import volumes.
Total new aluminum supply in the US totaled 767,000 metric tonnes in September, down from 733,000t the year prior, according to data from the US Geological Survey (USGS).
Imports of crude metals and alloys rose by 14,000t to 332,000t in September, contributing the most to the increase in total supply, while imports of plates, sheets and bars rose by 14,000t from a year earlier to 94,000t. An decrease in primary production by 5,000t to 55,000t slightly diminished the gain in supply.
Year-to-date September new aluminum supply was 6.82mn t, almost flat to the 6.84mn t in the same period a year earlier. Imports of crude metals and alloys year-to-date September fell to 2.74mn t from 2.91mn t, but a 148,000t increase to 932,000t in imports of plates, sheets, bars and other products prevented a steeper decline.
Total metal consumption and metal recovery in September increased on the year by 6,000t and 27,000t, respectively, to 353,000t and 297,000t.
Independent mill fabricators led this trend, increasing consumption and metal recovery by 3,000t each to 134,000t and 123,000t, respectively. Meanwhile, secondary smelters decreased metal recovery by 1,000t to 155,000t while increasing consumption by 3,000t to 210,000t.
Year-to-date September consumption increased by 60,000t to 3.23mn t compared with the same period a year earlier, while metal recovery rose by 60,000t to 2.64mn t.
The total of all scrap melted or consumed equaled 484,000t in September, up by 197,000t.
Old scrap made up nearly the entirety of this increase, with the quantity melted or consumed increasing by 183,000t to 304,000t. The same measurement for melted scrap rose by 14,000t to 180,000t.
The total amount of aluminum melted or consumed year-to-date September was 2.69mn t, up by 160,000t from the same period in 2023. New scrap melted or consumed increased by 130,000t, while old scrap rose by 30,000t over the period.
Aluminum alloys produced at secondary smelters dropped by 3,400t to 91,400t year-to-date September from a year earlier.
Production of 380 alloy and its variations fell by 2,700t to 17,600t from a year earlier while production of wrought alloys and extrusion billets ticked up by about 700t to 61,900t over the same period.
Aluminum alloys produced at secondary smelters year-to-date September fell by 40,000t to 814,000t, led by a 17,000t decrease in year-to-date September production of 380 alloy and its variations.
| Aluminum Production and Consumption | 000s of metric tonnes | |||||||
| September 2024 | September 2023 | Difference | ±% | Jan-Sep 2024 | Jan-Sep 2023 | Difference | ±% | |
| Components of Aluminum Supply | ||||||||
| Primary production | 55 | 60 | -5 | -8.3% | 507 | 564 | -57 | -10.1% |
| Secondary recovery, new | 160 | 157 | 3 | 1.9% | 1,460 | 1,390 | 70 | 5.0% |
| Secondary recovery, old | 126 | 127 | -1 | -0.8% | 1,170 | 1,190 | -20 | -1.7% |
| Imports, metals and alloys | 332 | 309 | 23 | 7.4% | 2,740 | 2,910 | -170 | -5.8% |
| Imports, plates, sheets, bars, etc. | 94 | 80 | 14 | 17.5% | 932 | 784 | 148 | 18.9% |
| Total new supply | 767 | 733 | 34 | 4.6% | 6,820 | 6,840 | -20 | -0.3% |
| Consumption of and Metallic Recovery from new and old aluminum scrap | ||||||||
| Secondary smelter, consumption | 210 | 207 | 3 | 1.4% | 1,880 | 1,890 | -10 | -0.5% |
| Secondary smelter, metal recovery | 155 | 156 | -1 | -0.6% | 1,410 | 1,410 | 0 | 0.0% |
| Independent mill fabricators, consumption | 134 | 131 | 3 | 2.3% | 1,270 | 1,200 | 70 | 5.8% |
| Independent mill fabricators, metal recovery | 123 | 120 | 3 | 2.5% | 1,160 | 1,090 | 70 | 6.4% |
| Total, consumption | 353 | 347 | 6 | 1.7% | 3,230 | 3,170 | 60 | 1.9% |
| Total, metal recovery | 297 | 270 | 27 | 10.0% | 2,640 | 2,580 | 60 | 2.3% |
| Quantity of scrap melted or consumed | ||||||||
| New scrap, total | 180 | 166 | 14 | 8.4% | 1,630 | 1,500 | 130 | 8.7% |
| Old scrap, total | 304 | 121 | 183 | 151.2% | 1,160 | 1,130 | 30 | 2.7% |
| Aluminum alloys produced at secondary smelters | ||||||||
| Wrought alloys, extrusion billets | 61.9 | 61.2 | 1 | 1.1% | 548 | 551 | -3 | -0.5% |
| 380 and variations | 17.6 | 20.3 | -3 | -13.3% | 159 | 176 | -17 | -9.7% |
| Total, all types | 91.4 | 94.8 | -3 | -3.6% | 814 | 854 | -40 | -4.7% |
| US Geological Survey | ||||||||
