Aluminium demand down in Q1 for North America

As part of its monthly Aluminum Situation statistical report, the Aluminum Association released preliminary estimates showing a 4.1% year-over-year decline in aluminium demand for North America (US and Canada) through Q1 of 2025. The decline was driven largely by drops in export markets and ingot shipments.

“A healthy US aluminium industry is essential to America’s economic security and national defence,” said Charles Johnson, president & CEO of the Aluminum Association. “Demand has softened in the first quarter following a demand rebound in 2024. We’ll continue to track the market carefully to see if these trends continue or accelerate. Critically, the industry is calling for a targeted trade policy that addresses unfair trade while enabling access to abundant and affordable metal. Not a 50% across-the-board tariff that drives down demand for our products.”

Key takeaways from the report include:

• Aluminium demand in the United States and Canada (shipments by domestic producers plus imports) totalled an estimated 6.53 million pounds through Q1 2025, declining 4.4% from the Q1 2024 total of 6.83 million pounds.
• The association’s Domestic Producers Shipments & Inventories report indicates that producer shipments from US and Canadian facilities decreased 6.7% year-to-date through April. This number excludes imports to more clearly reflect industry aluminium and aluminium product shipments by North American firms.
• The decline in domestic producer shipments was driven primarily by a decline in aluminium mill products which have contracted 2.3% while shipments of aluminium ingot for castings, exports and destructive uses declined 15.0% year-to-date.
• Aluminium scrap inventory grew 18.9% year-over-year in April, driven by tariff policy that is incentivising the use of scrap.

Imports of aluminium and aluminium products into North America increased by 40.9% quarter-over-quarter in the first quarter as firms ramped up imports ahead of tariff implementation.

Over the past decade, Aluminum Association member companies have announced more than $10 billion in investments for domestic manufacturing operations. More than half of that investment has been announced since 2021 – thanks to increased demand and strong and targeted trade policy pioneered by the Trump administration in the first term. Critically, the aluminium industry needs access to abundant and affordable metal in order to invest and grow in the United States.

The Aluminum Situation report is one of more than two-dozen ongoing industry statistical reports developed exclusively by the Aluminum Association through surveys of aluminium producers, fabricators and recyclers. Subscribers to the Aluminum Association statistical reports have access to an online portal with data users can manipulate directly to produce interactive, presentation-ready charts and graphs.

To learn more about the Aluminum Association’s statistical offerings or to subscribe, visit: www.aluminum.org/statistics.