US alumina imports jump 32% in 2025 as Jamaica’s exports double

In 2025, the US alumina story begins with rising imports-but it quickly reveals a system under strain. US alumina imports surged to 1.77 million tonnes in 2025, up 32 per cent from 1.34 million tonnes in 2024, reversing a marginal 1 per cent dip from 1.36 million tonnes in 2023. It reads like a rebound-but is it really a recovery story, or does it signal a deeper structural shift?

The movement through the year adds intrigue. Alumina imports rose consistently through the first three quarters of 2025 before reversing sharply in the final quarter. Volumes reached 439,000 tonnes in Q1, increasing to 466,000 tonnes in Q2, up 6 per cent quarter on quarter, and climbed further to 506,000 tonnes in Q3, marking an 8 per cent rise. However, this upward trajectory broke in Q4, with imports falling sharply to 361,000 tonnes, down 29 per cent from the previous quarter. Despite this decline, fourth-quarter volumes were still 2 per cent higher than in the same period of 2024.

Shrinking domestic refining base drives import reliance

The answer lies in a steady, long-term erosion of US refining capacity. Alumina production has fallen from about 5 million tonnes in 2000 to roughly 600,000 tonnes today-an 88 per cent decline shaped by permanent closures rather than short-term cycles.

Facilities such as Sherwin Alumina in Texas and Massena East in New York have shut over the past decade. Alcoa’s Point Comfort refinery in Texas, once capable of producing 2.3 million tonnes annually, was closed in 2019 and has since been dismantled, further reducing domestic capacity.

Today, the system depends largely on a single refinery - Atlantic Alumina’s Gramercy plant in Louisiana-running at about one-third capacity and producing around 500,000–600,000 tonnes annually from imported Jamaican bauxite.