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Aluminum industry in the United States

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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

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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.[citation needed]

Primary production volume in 1999 was 3.8 million metric ton and by 2023, it has dropped to an annual volume of 785,000 metric ton.[3] By March 2024, there are four operating plants with a combined yearly capacity of 650,000 metric tons.[3] In 1980, there were approximately 30 smelters in operation in the US.[4] US had a global market share of under 2% of primary aluminum in 2022.[5]

Primary Aluminum Smelters in the US

Name Location Owner Status and Date
Warrick Plant Evansville, Indiana Alcoa Operating, July 2022[6]
Massena Plant Massena, New York Alcoa Operating, April 2014[7]
Mt Holly Plant Mount Holly, South Carolina Century Aluminum Operating, December 2014[8]
Sebree Plant Sebree, Kentucky Century Aluminum Operating, May 2015[9]
Noranda Plant New Madrid, Missouri Magnitude 7 Metals Curtailed, January 2024[10]
Hawesville Plant Hawesville, Kentucky Century Aluminum Idled, June 2022[11]
Intalco Plant Ferndale, Washington Alcoa Closed, March 2023[12]
Ravenswood Plant Ravenswood, West Virginia Century Aluminum Closed, July 2015[13]
Ormet Plant Hannibal, Ohio Ormet Closed, August 2014[14]
Columbia Falls Plant Columbia Falls, Montana Glencore Closed in March 2015[15][16]
St. Lawrence Plant Massena, New York Alcoa Closed
Wenatchee Plant Wenatchee, Washington Alcoa Closed
Rockdale Plant Rockdale, Texas Alcoa Closed

Secondary production

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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).

By 2021, secondary production accounted for 78% of US aluminum production.[17]

Raw materials

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Proportion of US aluminum production from various raw materials. Data from USGS.
Main article: Bauxite mining in the United States

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.[18]

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

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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 that was used in 2014. Of the imported aluminum, 63% came from Canada.[1][19]

2015 Imports for consumption by country[20]
No. Country Quantity Value
metric tons % k$ %
1  Canada 2,820,000 55.5 6,130,000 50.2
2  China 395,000 7.8 1,120,000 9.2
3  Russia 297,000 5.8 683,000 5.6
4  United Arab Emirates 294,000 5.8 665,000 5.5
5  Mexico 162,000 3.2 383,000 3.1
6  Bahrain 109,000 2.1 269,000 2.2
7  Argentina 85,900 1.7 187,000 1.5
8  Germany 78,200 1.5 324,000 2.7
9  Venezuela 68,900 1.4 128,000 1.0
10  South Africa 57,300 1.1 179,000 1.5
11  South Korea 38,400 0.8 109,000 0.9
12  Japan 27,800 0.5 122,000 1.0
13  Brazil 27,000 0.5 56,900 0.5
14  France 21,500 0.4 155,000 1.3
15  Australia 19,800 0.4 47,700 0.4
16  Italy 19,300 0.4 70,400 0.6
17  United Kingdom 17,100 0.3 59,300 0.5
18  Norway 14,000 0.3 32,100 0.3
19  Spain 9,360 0.2 21,400 0.2
20  Belgium 8,810 0.2 43,800 0.4
21  Panama 5,010 0.1 7,070 0.1
22  Netherlands 4,980 0.1 21,900 0.2
Other 496,000 9.8 1,390,000 11.4
Total 5,080,000 100.0 12,200,000 100.0
2015 Exports by country[20]
No. Country Quantity Value
metric tons % k$ %
1  China 882,000 29.3 1,570,000 18.6
2  Mexico 821,000 27.3 2,530,000 29.9
3  Canada 657,000 21.8 2,050,000 24.3
4  Korea, Republic of 205,000 6.8 532,000 6.3
5  Taiwan 46,700 1.6 106,000 1.3
6  Japan 38,200 1.3 275,000 3.3
7  Hong Kong 32,100 1.1 52,400 0.6
8  France 22,200 0.7 161,000 1.9
9  Germany 20,700 0.7 134,000 1.6
10  United Kingdom 19,200 0.6 164,000 1.9
11  Brazil 9,030 0.3 55,400 0.7
12  Thailand 8,090 0.3 32,900 0.4
13  Saudi Arabia 6,070 0.2 27,800 0.3
14  Singapore 5,010 0.2 41,200 0.5
15  Italy 3,080 0.1 39,800 0.5
16  Netherlands 2,290 0.1 12,200 0.1
17  Venezuela 1,240 0.0 11,200 0.1
18  Philippines 613 0.0 5,660 0.1
19  Russia 359 0.0 1,480 0.0
20  South Africa 202 0.0 2,010 0.0
21  Kazakhstan 65 0.0 463 0.0
22  Ukraine 4 0.0 36 0.0
Other 231,000 7.7 641,000 7.6
Total 3,010,000 100.0 8,450,000 100.0

History of US aluminum production

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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

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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.[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b "Column: US looks to reboot aluminum sector with a new smelter". MINING.COM. March 29, 2024. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  4. ^ Boldman, Lane (February 7, 2024). "One of America's last aluminum smelters just closed. Let's rescue Kentucky's from that fate. • Kentucky Lantern". Kentucky Lantern. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  5. ^ "America was the world's largest producer of primary aluminum until recently. Now companies are warning the 2% U.S. market share puts the energy transition at risk". Fortune Asia. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  6. ^ Alcoa. Alcoa Announces Partial Curtailment at Warrick Smelter in Indiana, Alcoa Press Release, July 1, 2022.
  7. ^ Lindquist, Brent. Alcoa reacts to tariffs on foreign aluminum , Lynden Tribune, April 11, 2018.
  8. ^ Wren, David. "Century Aluminum completes acquisition of Mt. Holly facility," Post and Courier, 1 Dec. 2015
  9. ^ Associated Press, "Union workers locked out at aluminum smelter," Archived July 11, 2015, at the Wayback Machine WBKO, 12 May 2015.
  10. ^ More than 500 Mag7 employees to lose jobs after Sunday KFVS-12, January 24, 2024
  11. ^ Miller, Sydney. [1], aluminiuminsider.com, August 21, 2022
  12. ^ McCarthy, Grace. "Alcoa announces permanent Intalco closure"
  13. ^ Matics, Greg. "Century Aluminum announces permanent closure of Ravenswood smelting plant," Archived October 24, 2021, at the Wayback Machine Jackson Newspapers, 30 July 2015.
  14. ^ Milam, John, "Shutdown of Ohio aluminum giant Ormet appears final," People's World, 5 August 2014
  15. ^ "Columbia Falls Aluminum Co permanently closed,"[permanent dead link] Daily Interlake, 3 March 2015.
  16. ^ Lundquist, Laura (October 11, 2024). "CSKT demands input on Columbia Falls Superfund cleanup". Missoula Current News. Retrieved October 13, 2024.
  17. ^ Home, Andy (January 28, 2024). "Column: Another US primary aluminum smelter bites the dust". Reuters.
  18. ^ Stuart Burns, "Power costs in the production of primary aluminum," Archived 2014-06-09 at the Wayback Machine Metal mIner, 26 Feb. 2009.
  19. ^ "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.
  20. ^ a b "2015 Minerals Yearbook - ALUMINUM [ADVANCE RELEASE]" (PDF). U.S. Geological Survey. Aluminum Statistics and Information
  21. ^ 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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