North American aluminum demand through May up 1.6% on year: trade group

 US and Canadian aluminum demand, measured by domestic producer shipments and imports, totaled an estimated 10.482 billion lb in the first five months of 2014, 1.6% above that of the same period last year, according to preliminary estimates Friday from the Aluminum Association.

Demand for semi-fabricated mill products totaled 6.958 billion lb through May, up 0.2% from a year ago. Apparent consumption -- defined as demand less exports -- in domestic markets totaled an estimated 8.947 billion lb, up 3.5% from the same period of 2013.

Exports of aluminum from the US and Canada, excluding cross-border trade, totaled 1.535 billion lb year to date, down 8.2% from a year ago, while aluminum imports totaled 2.079 billion lb, up 16.8% 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 1.487 billion lb in May, 3.9% above the May 2013 total of 1.431 billion lb.

Demand for aluminum sheet and plate totaled 823 million lb in May, up 3.9%, while year-on-year extruded product demand was up 5.8% to 413 million lb.

Estimated shipments of aluminum ingot for castings, exports and other uses totaled 697 million lb, up 11.6% from last year, and apparent consumption in domestic US and Canada markets totaled 1.883 billion lb in May, up 7.1% from the May 2013 total of 1.758 billion lb.

Producer inventories totaled 2.809 billion lb in May, down 1.2% from the April level of 2.844 billion lb. Producer inventories were up 11.4% compared with the year before.

The US and Canadian aluminum industry bought an estimated 779 million lb of scrap in April, according to aluminum recycling statistics from the US Geological Survey, up 7.7% from the April 2013 total of 723 million.

The recovery of aluminum from scrap totaled an estimated 679 million lb in the first four months of 2014, up 9.1% from last year.

Aluminum imports of ingot, scrap and mill products into the US and Canada (excluding cross-border trade) were 455 million lb in May, up 0.5% from the May 3013 total of 453 million lb.

Including scrap, exports totaled 627 million lb in May, down 1.9% from a year ago. Excluding scrap, exports totaled 302 million lb, an increase of 1.4% from last year.

During the first five months of 2014, imports rose 14.1% to 2.268 billion lb, while exports dropped 8.1% to 3.032 billion.

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