US aluminium import drops 14% YoY in Jan-Feb 2019; semi-finished import drops about 5%

According to the latest report from US Geological Survey, aluminium demand in the United States and Canada, including shipments by domestic producers plus imports stood at an estimated 2.1 million tonnes for January and February 2019, slightly down from the same period of 2018. Total aluminium supply in January and February (3 Primary production, secondary recovery, and imports for consumption) in the US stood at 1.58 million tonnes. 

When we look at the total import by the US in the first two months of 2019 (including scrap), we see the volume standing at 935,000 tonnes. Excluding scrap US import of aluminium and semi-finished aluminium stood at 836,000 tonnes, about 14% drop from 973,000 tonnes in the first two months of 2018.

The import of crude aluminium and alloy dropped about 18% to 583,000 tonnes from 707,000 tonnes in the first two months of 2018. Drop in import of semi-finished aluminium has not been very significant. Imports of semi-finished aluminium dropped about 5% to 253,000 tonnes from 266,000 tonnes in the same period of 2018.

Country wise, semi-finished aluminium import registered a huge drop in case of China. The total semi-finished aluminium import from China in January-February 2018 stood at 106,000 tonnes, which dropped about 77% to 24,800 tonnes in January-February 2019.

The US continues to remain import dependent despite the tariffs on imported aluminium, especially in semi-finished segments.  The volume of import is dropping but, the change is mostly driven by the primary sector.