North American aluminum demand through May up 1.2% on year: trade group

US and Canadian aluminum demand, defined as shipments by domestic producers and imports, reached an estimated 10.252 billion pounds in the first five months of 2013, 1.2% more than that of the same period last year, according to preliminary estimates released Tuesday by the Aluminum Association.

Demand for semi-fabricated mill products totaled 6.870 billion lb through May, falling 0.7% from a year ago. Apparent consumption -- defined as demand less exports -- in domestic markets totaled an estimated 8.569 billion lb, 0.5% above the same period of 2012.

Exports of aluminum from the US and Canada, excluding cross-border trade, totaled 1.656 billion lb year to date, up 5.6% over a year ago, while aluminum imports totaled 1.821 billion lb, down 7.6% from last year.

Demand for aluminum semi-fabricated products in the US and Canada -- measured in shipments by domestic producers plus imports -- totaled an estimated 1.412 billion lb in May, 4.1% lower than the May 2012 total of 1.473 billion lb.

Demand for aluminum sheet and plate totaled 794 million lb in May, down 3.5%, while year-on-year extruded product demand was down 3.5% to 381 million lb.

Estimated shipments of aluminum ingot for castings, exports and other uses totaled 639 million lb, up 3.4% from last year, and apparent consumption in domestic US and Canada markets totaled 1.756 billion lb in May, down 0.2% from the May 2012 total of 1.760 billion lb.

Producer inventories totaled 2.557 billion lb in May, 3.2% below the April level of of 2.642 billion lb. Producer inventories were up 4.7% compared with the year before.

The US and Canadian aluminum industry bought an estimated 768 million lb of scrap in May, according to aluminum recycling statistics from the US Geological Survey, up 0.7% from the April 2013 total of 762 million.

Aluminum imports of ingot, scrap and mill products into the US and Canada (excluding cross-border trade) were 453 million lb in May, down 10% from last May's total of 504 million lb.

Including scrap, exports totaled 639 million lb in May, down 11.4% from a year ago. Excluding scrap, exports totaled 295 million lb, down 10.6% from last year.

During the first five months of 2013, imports fell 6.3% to 2.029 billion lb, while exports dropped 4.8% to 3.300 billion.