Aluminum industry in the United States

The aluminum industry in the United States in 2023 produced 860 thousand metric tonnes of aluminum from refined metal ore (primary production), at six smelters. In addition, US industry recycled 3.4 million tonnes of aluminum (so-called secondary production aluminum).Aluminum, US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summary 2023, January 2024. Total annual imports of metal and alloy for use in secondary production stood at 2.6 million metric tonnes in the year to August 2023, with the previous decade seeing a fundamental shift toward recycled production.US’ shift to recycled aluminium results in crude metal and alloy imports decline till Aug’23, AL Circle, Debanjali Sengupta,13 December 2023.

Primary production In 2014, primary aluminum, which is produced from bauxite, was produced by three companies at nine smelters. Primary aluminum is preferred for high-quality uses such as aircraft. The leader in US production was Alcoa. Also operating multiple primary plants was Century Aluminum.

Primary production volume in 1999 was 3.8 million metric tonnes and by 2023 it dropped to an annual volume of 785,000 metric tonnes. By March 2024, there were four operating plants with a combined yearly capacity of 650,000 metric tonnes. In 1980, there were approximately 30 smelters in operation in the US. The US had a global market share of under 2% of primary aluminum production in 2022.

Primary Aluminum Smelters in the US Name Location Owner Status and Date Warrick Plant Evansville, Indiana Alcoa Operating, July 2022Alcoa. Alcoa Announces Partial Curtailment at Warrick Smelter in Indiana, Alcoa Press Release, July 1, 2022. Massena Plant Massena, New York Alcoa Operating, April 2014Lindquist, Brent. Alcoa reacts to tariffs on foreign aluminum , Lynden Tribune, April 11, 2018. Mt Holly Plant Mount Holly, South Carolina Century Aluminum Operating, December 2014Wren, David. ," Post and Courier, 1 Dec. 2015 Sebree Plant Sebree, Kentucky Century Aluminum Operating, May 2015Associated Press, "Union workers locked out at aluminum smelter," WBKO, 12 May 2015. Noranda Plant New Madrid, Missouri Magnitude 7 Metals Idled, January 2024More than 500 Mag7 employees to lose jobs after Sunday KFVS-12, January 24, 2024 Hawesville Plant Hawesville, Kentucky Century Aluminum Idled, June 2022Miller, Sydney. , aluminiuminsider.com, August 21, 2022 Intalco Plant Ferndale, Washington Alcoa Closed, March 2023McCarthy, Grace. "Alcoa announces permanent Intalco closure", 2020 Ravenswood Plant Ravenswood, West Virginia Century Aluminum Closed, July 2015Matics, Greg. "Century Aluminum announces permanent closure of Ravenswood smelting plant," Jackson Newspapers, 30 July 2015. Ormet Plant Hannibal, Ohio Ormet Closed, August 2014Milam, John, "Shutdown of Ohio aluminum giant Ormet appears final," People's World, 5 August 2014 Columbia Falls Plant Columbia Falls, Montana Glencore Closed in March 2015 Daily Interlake, 3 March 2015. St. Lawrence Plant Massena, New York Alcoa Closed Wenatchee Plant Wenatchee, Washington Alcoa Closed Rockdale Plant Rockdale, Texas Alcoa Closed

Secondary production Secondary production is the recycling of metallic aluminum derived from scrap. Secondary production can be from either new scrap (from aluminum manufacturing), or from old scrap (post-consumer scrap such as recycled aluminum cans).

By 2021, secondary production accounted for 78% of US aluminum production.

Raw materials

The principal raw materials for aluminum production are bauxite (for primary production) and scrap (for secondary production).

Primary aluminum production consumes a great deal of electricity, which makes up about a third of the cost. Making a ton of primary aluminum consumes at least 12,500 kWh, and most plants consume 14,500 to 15,000 kWh per ton of primary aluminum.Stuart Burns, "Power costs in the production of primary aluminum," Metal mIner, 26 Feb. 2009.

Secondary production of a given unit of aluminum requires about 10% of the electricity of primary production.

The United States mined production of bauxite for primary aluminum production is insignificant. In 2013, the US mined only 1.3 percent of the bauxite it used, US mined production being less than 0.1 percent of world production.

International trade The US imported nearly all the bauxite (the only commercial aluminum ore) used in producing primary aluminum. For years, the US has produced less than 1% of the bauxite used to make aluminum.

The US also imported 33 percent of the aluminum that was used in 2014. Of the imported aluminum, 63% came from Canada. +2015 Imports for consumption by country Aluminum Statistics and InformationNo. Country QuantityValuemetric tonnes % k$ %1 2,820,000 55.5 6,130,000 50.22 395,000 7.8 1,120,000 9.23 297,000 5.8 683,000 5.64 294,000 5.8 665,000 5.55 162,000 3.2 383,000 3.16 109,000 2.1 269,000 2.27 85,900 1.7 187,000 1.58 78,200 1.5 324,000 2.79 68,900 1.4 128,000 1.010 57,300 1.1 179,000 1.511 38,400 0.8 109,000 0.912 27,800 0.5 122,000 1.013 27,000 0.5 56,900 0.514 21,500 0.4 155,000 1.315 19,800 0.4 47,700 0.416 19,300 0.4 70,400 0.617 17,100 0.3 59,300 0.518 14,000 0.3 32,100 0.319 9,360 0.2 21,400 0.220 8,810 0.2 43,800 0.421 5,010 0.1 7,070 0.122 4,980 0.1 21,900 0.2Other 496,000 9.8 1,390,000 11.4Total 5,080,000 100.0 12,200,000 100.0+2015 Exports by countryNo. Country QuantityValuemetric tonnes % k$ %1 882,000 29.3 1,570,000 18.62 821,000 27.3 2,530,000 29.93 657,000 21.8 2,050,000 24.34 205,000 6.8 532,000 6.35 46,700 1.6 106,000 1.36 38,200 1.3 275,000 3.37 32,100 1.1 52,400 0.68 22,200 0.7 161,000 1.99 20,700 0.7 134,000 1.610 19,200 0.6 164,000 1.911 9,030 0.3 55,400 0.712 8,090 0.3 32,900 0.413 6,070 0.2 27,800 0.314 5,010 0.2 41,200 0.515 3,080 0.1 39,800 0.516 2,290 0.1 12,200 0.117 1,240 0.0 11,200 0.118 613 0.0 5,660 0.119 359 0.0 1,480 0.020 202 0.0 2,010 0.021 65 0.0 463 0.022 4 0.0 36 0.0 Other 231,000 7.7 641,000 7.6Total 3,010,000 100.0 8,450,000 100.0

History of US aluminum production The US used to be a much more important factor in the world primary aluminum market. As recently as 1981, the US produced 30% of the world's primary aluminum, and for many years up through 2000, the US was the world's largest producer of primary aluminum. In 2014, by contrast, the US ranked sixth in primary aluminum production, and provided only 3.5% of world production.

US production of primary aluminum peaked in 1980 at 4.64 million metric tonnes. Since then, US primary aluminum production has fallen by more than half, but secondary production has increased, making up much of the difference. In the 1950s and 1960s, primary production made up about 80% of the aluminum output. In 2014, primary production made up 32%, while secondary from new scrap made up 36% and secondary from old scrap made up 32% of US aluminum production.

Climate impact and market competitiveness The development of tools which calculate up-front carbon emissions is expected to bring changes to the relative competitiveness of US-produced aluminum products, and result in states with relative lower emissions gaining a competitive advantage both for sourcing aluminum construction materials and for siting of new aluminum industry facilities.

See also The Aluminum Association

References