The U.S. primary aluminium production up by 40% in H1 2019; Canada production drops about 3%

The Aluminum Association, in cooperation with the Aluminium Association of Canada, reported primary aluminium production in North America (U.S. and Canada) was at an annual rate of 3,991,956 tonnes during June 2019, a drop of 13,354 tpy or 0.3% from May 2019.

The production rate in the U.S. was off 1.4 per cent month on month, while the Canadian rate rose slightly. Year over year, the North American annual rate was 8.4 per cent more than the June 2018 rate of 3,683,641 tonnes.

North America's actual primary aluminium production in June 2019 stood at 328,106 tonnes.  The U.S. produced 93,042 tonnes of primary aluminium in June 2019, down 4.6% month on month. The volume was 48.6% more from June 2018, which is a significant increase for the industry.

For the first half of 2019, the U.S. produced 568,110 tonnes of aluminium, up 40% from 404,671 tonnes produced in H1 2018.

Canada produced 235,064 tonnes of primary aluminium in June 2019, down 3% month on month. The volume was 2% less from June 2018. Canada's H1 production stood at 1.41 million tonne, down about 3% YoY. The fall was driven by the operation closure at Aluminerie de Bécancour (ABI) Smelter in Québec due to labour issues. Alcoa recently announced that the ABI aluminium smelter would restart curtailed smelting capacity soon as the members of the United Steelworkers union approved a new six-year labour agreement.