US primary aluminium production trends down 11% through April 2024, opening doors for increased overseas imports

The United States’ full-month primary aluminium production in April stood at 55,000 tonnes, compared to 57,000 tonnes in March 2024 and 63,000 tonnes in April 2023, reinforcing growing reliance on secondary aluminium sourced from scrap for producing end-user products. According to USGS, aluminium recovered from scrap in April rose 6 per cent Y-o-Y to 299,000 tonnes, maintaining parity with March 2024.

From January to April 2024, the United States total primary aluminium production amounted to 227,000 tonnes – 10.57 per cent less than 251,000 tonnes during the corresponding period of the previous year.

The void created in the United States domestic primary aluminium industry due to the persistent drop in production is being increasingly filled by overseas products. From January to April alone, the United States imported 1.24 million tonnes of primary aluminium, much higher than the domestic output. To check this influx of primary aluminium products, the United States has recently tightened its import regulations by imposing an additional 10 per cent tariff on primary aluminium smelted or cast in China, Iran, Russia, and Belarus and transshipped via Mexico. Besides safeguarding the domestic industry, this move strategically addresses the loophole that countries were utilising to avoid US import tariffs by routing through Mexico.

The April 2024 average US spot market price of primary aluminum ingot was $1.33 per pound, 11 per cent more than in March 2024 but essentially unchanged from that in April 2023. The average cash price in April 2024 of primary aluminum ingot on the London Metal Exchange (LME) was $1.13 per pound, up 12 per cent from March 2024 and 7 per cent more than in April 2023.

Inventories of primary aluminum in LME-approved warehouses, including off-warrant inventories, in the United States were 14,466 tonnes at the end of April 2024, nearly triple than at the end of March 2024.