Aluminum Association updates on North American aluminum shipment

Shipments of Aluminum Extruded Products (extruded shapes, pipe & tube, and rod & bar) by U.S. and Canadian producers totaled an estimated 444.9 million pounds during May 2015, an increase of 5.7 percent over the May 2014 revised total of 420.9 million pounds. Compared to the previous month, shipments declined five-tenths of one percent from the April 2015 revised total of 447.1 million pounds. Year-to-date shipments through May 2015 totaled 2,192.6 million pounds, up 9.0 percent over the 2014 year-to-date total of 2,010.7 million pounds. Shipments for 2014 are revised to 4,894.6 million pound.

Aluminum net shipments (including exports) by domestic U.S. and Canadian facilities totaled an estimated 1,934 million pounds during May, down 3.0 percent from the May 2014 total of 1,994 million pounds. Shipments of aluminum mill products decreased two-tenths of one percent from the previous year to 1,318 million pounds, while shipments of aluminum ingot for castings, exports and destructive uses decreased 8.4 percent year-over-year, totaling 616 million pounds. Preliminary year-to-date producer shipments for 2015 totaled 9,641 million pounds, essentially unchanged from the 2014 total of 9,642 million pounds. May inventory levels totaled an estimated 3,167 million pounds, up 5.8 percent over the previous month and up 12.8 percent year-over-year.