The demand for aluminum has been growing steady, which supply has been unable to keep up with since 2005. Indications show demand significantly increased in the last year across the United States and Canada. The demand for aluminum is measured by taking a number of shipments made by domestic producers and combining that with all imports, a figure up 2.4% over last year.
When looking at the year through July, a number of aluminum shipments and imports totaled 15.158 billion. This is according to a report from the Aluminum Association. The same report discloses consumption of aluminum is also on the rise, up 7% in July from the year-ago period to 13,487 billion.
This report also notes aluminum exports from the U.S. and Canada dropped 23.5%, while a number of imports was up 19.3%. Meanwhile, domestic demand for semi-fabricated aluminum products was up 3.5%. Effectively, with demand and consumption both steadily rising the price of aluminum is projected to remain steady for an extended period.
Demand and consumption are higher than ever and anecdotally we’ve already seen many industries turn towards aluminum in the manufacturing process for a wide range of products.