Aluminium product imports in U.S and Canada up 28% YTD in 2016

According to the Preliminary estimates from Aluminum Association, aluminium demand in the United States and Canada that includes shipments by domestic producers plus imports were an estimated 22,120 million pounds during January to October 2016, an increase of 1.6 per cent over the same period last year. Demand for semi-fabricated or mill products dropped slightly YTD to 15,531 million pounds. Apparent consumption (demand minus exports) in domestic markets totalled an estimated 19,487 million pounds during January to October 2016.

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U.S. and Canada exported (excluding cross-border trade) 2,634 million pounds of aluminium ingot and mill products during January to October 2016 which recorded a 10 per cent increase over the same period last year. Compared to export, imports were up 28 per cent to 6,121 million pounds during the first ten months of 2016.

For the month of October, aluminium semi-fabricated (mill) product demands in the U.S. and Canada totalled an estimated 1,510 million pounds, down 2 per cent over October 2015. Demand for aluminium sheet and plate dropped slightly to 826 million pounds. Extruded product shipments were down 1.5 per cent YOY to 468 million pounds. Estimated shipments of aluminium ingot for castings and other uses ranged up 1.3 per cent to 687 million pounds.

Apparent consumption in domestic U.S. and Canada markets remains flat YOY at 1,938 million pounds in October. YTD apparent consumption was up slightly over the same period last year. Producer inventories for ingot, scrap and others totalled 2,895 million pounds in October, slightly down from the September 2016 level of 2,907 million pounds. On a YOY comparison, producer inventories dropped 4.9 per cent.

The Association’s “Index of Net New Orders of Aluminum Mill Products” for November increased 1.0 percent MOM. Orders for flat roll products were slightly up while extruded products dropped 3.7 per cent. Compared to November 2015, orders increased 1.8 per cent. On average, orders recorded by domestic producers through November 2016 were up 1.1 per cent YOY.

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Aluminum imports of ingot, scrap and mill products into the U.S. and Canada (excluding cross-border trade) in October increased 34.8 per cent YOY to total at 567 million pounds. Exports (including scrap) in October dropped 12 per cent to total at 526 million pounds. From January to October 2016, total imports were up 27.5 per cent to 6,533 million pounds while exports were down 3.2 per cent to 5,123 million pounds.