North American aluminum demand 2% up during Jan-Apr: Aluminum Association

US and Canadian aluminum demand, defined as shipments by domestic producers and imports, reached an estimated 8.175 billion pounds in the first four months of 2013, 2% above that of the same period last year, according to preliminary estimates released Tuesday by the Aluminum Association.

Demand for semi-fabricated (mill) products totaled 5.470 billion lb through April, rising 0.4% from a year ago. Apparent consumption - defined as demand less exports - in domestic markets totaled an estimated 6.813 billion lb, 0.5% above the same period of 2012.

Exports of aluminum from the US and Canada (excluding cross-border trade) totaled 1.362 billion lb year to date, up 9.1% over a year ago, while aluminum imports totaled 1.413 billion lb, down 4.4% from last year. Demand for aluminum semi-fabricated products in the US and Canada -- measured in shipments by domestic producers plus imports -- totaled an estimated 1.423 billion lb in April, 3% higher than the April 2012 total of 1.382 billion lb.

Demand for aluminum sheet and plate totaled 803 million lb in April, up 2.9%, while extruded product demand was up 3.8% year-on-year to 376 million lb.

Estimated shipments of aluminum ingot for castings, exports and other uses totaled 637 million lb, up 5.5% from last year.

Apparent consumption in domestic US and Canada markets totaled 1.739 billion lb in April, rising 3.3% from the April 2012 total of 1.683 billion lb.

Producer inventories totaled 2.621 billion lb in April, 0.4% below the March level of of 2.632 billion lb. Producer inventories were up 9% compared with the year before.

The US and Canadian aluminum industry bought an estimated 762 million lb of scrap in April, according to aluminum recycling statistics from the US Geological Survey, down 3% from the April 2012 total of 786 million.

Aluminum imports of ingot, scrap and mill products into the US and Canada (excluding cross-border trade) were 414 million lb in April, up 1.3% from last April.

Including scrap, exports totaled 621 million lb in April, down 8.7 from a year ago. Excluding scrap, exports totaled 322 million lb, up 5.4% from last year.

During the first four months of 2013, imports fell 3.6% to 1.576 billion lb, while exports dropped 3.6% to 2.663 billion.