US imports of primary aluminum in August under HTS code 7601 dropped 19% year on year to 270,844 mt, according to data released Oct. 8 by the US International Trade Commission based on earlier data from the US Bureau of the Census.
However, August's unwrought aluminum imports rose from the July total of 253,568 mt, which represented a year-to-date low.
The most significant year-over-year declines in aluminum import volumes were attributed to shipments from Qatar (down 76% to 3,151 mt), Russia (down 79% to 3,401 mt), India (down 85.9% to 2,598 mt), Australia (down 89% to 2,660 mt) and China (down 98.7% to 47 mt).
US imports of primary aluminum from Canada in August rose 4.4% to 204,999 mt. However, Canadian shipments have declined on a month-on-month basis since May.
The US reimposed a 10% duty on imports of unalloyed, unwrought aluminum from Canada under the more specific HTS code 7601.10, which took effect Aug. 16. During the month, imports from Canada under the HTS code ticked up 2% year over year to 128,795 mt.
On a monthly basis, August imports from Canada under HTS code 7601.10 fell from 153,495 mt in July and the year-to-date high of 190,798 mt in June.
The US again removed the tariff on Canada Sept. 15 but said imports were expected to remain below a specified level each month for the remainder of the year, according to a statement from the United States Trade Representative's office.
On Sept. 15, the USTR said imports of non-alloyed unwrought aluminum from Canada were expected to be 83,000 st in September, 70,000 st in October, 83,000 st in November and 70,000 st in December.
US domestic exports of primary aluminum, including only primary metals produced or significantly changed in the country, totaled 23,378 mt in August, down from 24,362 mt in the year-ago period but up from 22,084 mt in July.
The leading destinations for US aluminum exports were Mexico (13,963 mt), Canada (6,037 mt) and Malaysia (1,707 mt).
Aluminum plate, sheet, strip imports plunge
US August imports of aluminum plate, sheet and strip under HTS code 7606 dropped 40.5% year on year to 63,261 mt, according to ITC data.
Imports of aluminum plate, sheet and strip remained mostly steady compared with 62,583 mt in July.
The leading sources of US aluminum imports for the month under HTS code 7606 were Canada (11,349 mt), China (10,765 mt) and Saudi Arabia (7,150 mt).
US exports of aluminum plate, sheet and strip in August fell to 40,026 mt from 55,264 mt in the same month last year.
The largest amounts of US aluminum exports in the HTS category were shipped to Canada (21,750 mt), Mexico (13,211 mt) and South Korea (1,320 mt).
UBC scrap exports surge
ITC data showed that US exports of aluminum used beverage cans swelled to about 14,032 mt in August from 2,985 mt in August 2019.
Scrap exports from used beverage cans have posted year-over-year increases in every month during 2020.
The majority of used beverage can exports were shipped to India (6,259 mt), Malaysia (2,643 mt) and Thailand (1,668 mt).
UBC imports during the month into the US rose 22% to 11,436 mt.
August's UBC import total was mostly unchanged from 11,639 mt in July following a year-to-date high of 16,922 mt in June.
Among total UBC shipments into the US, import quantities totaled 8,975 mt from Canada, 1,506 mt from Mexico and 365 mt from the UK.
There were no UBC imports from Brazil in August compared with 709 mt in July.
