Aluminium demand and apparent consumption up in North America through May 2017

<p>According to the preliminary estimates published by Aluminium Association indicate that aluminium demand in the United States and Canada that includes shipments by domestic producers plus imports increased 4.2% YoY to stand at 11,538 million pounds in the first five months of 2017.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img style="vertical-align: middle;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/aludemandNA.png" alt="News" width="424" height="253" /></p> <p>For the period from January to May, demand for semi-fabricated (mill) products was up 6% to 8,215 million pounds. Apparent consumption (demand minus exports) in domestic markets increased 5.8% YoY to stand at an estimated 10,322 million pounds. Exports of aluminium ingot and mill products from the U.S. and Canada dropped 7.7% YoY to 1,216 million pounds through May, while imports were up 32.4% to 3,902 million pounds.</p> <p>For the month of May, demand for aluminium semi-fabricated (mill) products stood at an estimated 1,770 million pounds, up 11% YoY. Shipments of aluminium sheet and plate also increased 12.7% to 982 million pounds. Extruded product shipments were up 6.7% YoY to 503 million pounds. Estimated shipments of aluminium ingot for castings, exports and other uses were off 1.8% YoY to 665 million pounds. Apparent consumption in domestic U.S. and Canada markets were up 10.2% YoY to 2,175 million pounds in May.</p> <p>{googleAdsense}</p> <p>Through the first five months of 2017, apparent consumption was up 5.8% over the same period last year. Producer inventories dropped 2.5% from April level of 2,916 million pounds to 2,842 million pounds in May and down 2.1% on a YoY basis.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img style="vertical-align: middle;" src="http://www.alcircle.com/uploads/images/shipment1.png" alt="News" width="690" height="249" /></p> <p>But, the &ldquo;Index of Net New Orders of Aluminum Mill Products&rdquo; for June decreased 1% month on month and orders for flat roll products (sheet, plate, can stock and foil) registered a slight drop. Orders for extruded products decreased 1.2% and orders for redraw rod were off 5.5%. YoY, the drop was insignificant. On average, orders recorded by domestic producers through June 2017 were up 2.3% YoY.&nbsp;</p>