US production of aluminum, 1940–2014. Data from USGS

The aluminum industry in the United States in 2023 produced 860 thousand metric tons of aluminum from refined metal ore (primary production), at six smelters. In addition, US industry recycled 3.4 million tons of aluminum (so-called secondary production aluminum).[1] Total annual imports of metal and alloy for use in secondary production stood at 2.6 million metric tons in the year to August 2023, with the previous decade seeing a fundamental shift toward recycled production.[2]

Primary production

In 2014, primary aluminum, which is produced from bauxite, was produced by three companies at nine smelters. Primary aluminum is preferred for high-quality uses such as aircraft. The leader in US production was Alcoa. Also operating multiple primary plants was Century Aluminum.

Primary Aluminum Smelters in the US

Name Location Owner Status and Date
Warrick Plant Evansville, Indiana Alcoa Reopened, July 2018[3]
Massena Plant Massena, New York Alcoa Operating, April 2014[4]
Mt Holly Plant Mount Holly, South Carolina Century Aluminum Operating, December 2014[5]
Sebree Plant Sebree, Kentucky Century Aluminum Operating, May 2015[6]
Noranda Plant New Madrid, Missouri Magnitude 7 Metals Reopened, July 2018[7]
Hawesville Plant Hawesville, Kentucky Century Aluminum Idled, June 2022[8]
Intalco Plant Ferndale, Washington Alcoa Idled, May 2020[9]
Ravenswood Plant Ravenswood, West Virginia Century Aluminum Closed, July 2015[10]
Ormet Plant Hannibal, Ohio Ormet Closed, August 2014[11]
Columbia Falls Plant Columbia Falls, Montana Glencore Closed in March 2015[12]
St. Lawrence Plant Massena, New York Alcoa Closed
Wenatchee Plant Wenatchee, Washington Alcoa Closed
Rockdale Plant Rockdale, Texas Alcoa Closed

Secondary production

Secondary production is the recycling of metallic aluminum derived from scrap. Secondary production can be from either new scrap (from aluminum manufacturing), or from old scrap (post-consumer scrap such as recycled aluminum cans).

Raw materials

Proportion of US aluminum production from various raw materials. Data from USGS.

The principal raw materials for aluminum production are bauxite (for primary production) and scrap (for secondary production).

Primary aluminum production consumes a great deal of electricity, which makes up about a third of the cost. Making a ton of primary aluminum consumes at least 12,500 kW-hr, and most plants consume 14,500 to 15,000 kW-hr per ton of primary aluminum.[13]

Secondary production of a given unit of aluminum requires about 10% of the electricity of primary production.

The United States mined production of bauxite for primary aluminum production is insignificant. In 2013, the US mined only 1.3 percent of the bauxite it used, US mined production being less than 0.1 percent of world production.

International trade

The US imported nearly all the bauxite (the only commercial aluminum ore) used in producing primary aluminum. For years, the US has produced less than 1% of the bauxite used to make aluminum.

The US also imported 33 percent of the aluminum metal that was used in 2014. Of the imported aluminum, 63% came from Canada.[1][14]

2015 Imports for consumption by country[15]
No.CountryQuantityValue
metric tons%k$ %
1 Canada2,820,00055.56,130,00050.2
2 China395,0007.81,120,0009.2
3 Russia297,0005.8683,0005.6
4 United Arab Emirates294,0005.8665,0005.5
5 Mexico162,0003.2383,0003.1
6 Bahrain109,0002.1269,0002.2
7 Argentina85,9001.7187,0001.5
8 Germany78,2001.5324,0002.7
9 Venezuela68,9001.4128,0001.0
10 South Africa57,3001.1179,0001.5
11 South Korea38,4000.8109,0000.9
12 Japan27,8000.5122,0001.0
13 Brazil27,0000.556,9000.5
14 France21,5000.4155,0001.3
15 Australia19,8000.447,7000.4
16 Italy19,3000.470,4000.6
17 United Kingdom17,1000.359,3000.5
18 Norway14,0000.332,1000.3
19 Spain9,3600.221,4000.2
20 Belgium8,8100.243,8000.4
21 Panama5,0100.17,0700.1
22 Netherlands4,9800.121,9000.2
Other496,0009.81,390,00011.4
Total5,080,000100.012,200,000100.0
2015 Exports by country[15]
No.CountryQuantityValue
metric tons%k$ %
1 China882,00029.31,570,00018.6
2 Mexico821,00027.32,530,00029.9
3 Canada657,00021.82,050,00024.3
4 Korea, Republic of205,0006.8532,0006.3
5 Taiwan46,7001.6106,0001.3
6 Japan38,2001.3275,0003.3
7 Hong Kong32,1001.152,4000.6
8 France22,2000.7161,0001.9
9 Germany20,7000.7134,0001.6
10 United Kingdom19,2000.6164,0001.9
11 Brazil9,0300.355,4000.7
12 Thailand8,0900.332,9000.4
13 Saudi Arabia6,0700.227,8000.3
14 Singapore5,0100.241,2000.5
15 Italy3,0800.139,8000.5
16 Netherlands2,2900.112,2000.1
17 Venezuela1,2400.011,2000.1
18 Philippines6130.05,6600.1
19 Russia3590.01,4800.0
20 South Africa2020.02,0100.0
21 Kazakhstan650.04630.0
22 Ukraine40.0360.0
Other231,0007.7641,0007.6
Total3,010,000100.08,450,000100.0

History of US aluminum production

The US used to be a much more important factor in the world primary aluminum market. As recently as 1981, the US produced 30% of the world's primary aluminum, and for many years up through 2000, the US was the world's largest producer of primary aluminum. In 2014, by contrast, the US ranked sixth in primary aluminum production, and provided only 3.5% of world production.

US production of primary aluminum peaked in 1980 at 4.64 million metric tons. Since then, US primary aluminum production has fallen by more than half, but secondary production has increased, making up much of the difference. In the 1950s and 1960s, primary production made up about 80% of the aluminum output. In 2014, primary production made up 32%, while secondary from new scrap made up 36% and secondary from old scrap made up 32% of US aluminum production.[1]

Climate impact and market competitiveness

The development of tools which calculate upfront carbon emissions is expected to bring changes to the relative competitiveness for US-produced aluminum products, and result in states with cleaner electric grids gaining a competitive advantage both for sourcing aluminum construction materials, and for siting of new aluminum industry facilities.[16]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Aluminum, US Geological Survey, Mineral Commodity Summary 2023, January 2024.
  2. ↑ US’ shift to recycled aluminium results in crude metal and alloy imports decline till Aug’23, AL Circle, Debanjali Sengupta,13 December 2023.
  3. ↑ Martin, John. Two of three Alcoa smelter potlines restarted; third one still delayed, Evansville Courier & Press, July 18, 2018.
  4. ↑ Lindquist, Brent. Alcoa reacts to tariffs on foreign aluminum , Lynden Tribune, April 11, 2018.
  5. ↑ Wren, David. "Century Aluminum completes acquisition of Mt. Holly facility," Post and Courier, 1 Dec. 2015
  6. ↑ Associated Press, "Union workers locked out at aluminum smelter," Archived July 11, 2015, at the Wayback Machine WBKO, 12 May 2015.
  7. ↑ Reopened Smelter in New Madrid, Co., MO makes its first shipment KFVS-12, July 31, 2018
  8. ↑ Miller, Sydney. , aluminiuminsider.com, August 21, 2022
  9. ↑ =
  10. ↑ Matics, Greg. "Century Aluminum announces permanent closure of Ravenswood smelting plant," Archived October 24, 2021, at the Wayback Machine Jackson Newspapers, 30 July 2015.
  11. ↑ Milam, John, "Shutdown of Ohio aluminum giant Ormet appears final," People's World, 5 August 2014
  12. ↑ "Columbia Falls Aluminum Co permanently closed," Daily Interlake, 3 March 2015.
  13. ↑ Stuart Burns, "Power costs in the production of primary aluminum," Archived 2014-06-09 at the Wayback Machine Metal mIner, 26 Feb. 2009.
  14. ↑ "The Challenges Are Real, but the US Aluminum Industry Can Still Thrive". December 3, 2015. Archived from the original on January 27, 2022. Retrieved April 22, 2021.
  15. 1 2 "2015 Minerals Yearbook - ALUMINUM [ADVANCE RELEASE]" (PDF). U.S. Geological Survey. Aluminum Statistics and Information
  16. ↑ Sanders, Helen (September 6, 2019). "Carbon Counting: A Driver for U.S. Sourced Aluminum? (Part 2)". Insights and Inspirations. Archived from the original on September 19, 2019. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
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