US and Canadian aluminum demand, measured by domestic producer shipments plus imports, totaled 6.55 billion lb through March, up 0.7% year on year, preliminary estimates from the Aluminum Association showed.
Over the same period, apparent consumption -- defined as demand less exports -- in domestic markets totaled 5.788 billion lb, down 0.4%.
Demand for semi-fabricated mill products totaled 4.552 billion lb through March, down 1.1% from a year ago.
Exports of aluminum from the US and Canada, excluding cross-border trade, totaled 762 million lb through the first three months of 2016, up 9.3% from the year-ago period, while aluminum imports totaled 1.685 billion lb, up 11.6%.
Demand in March for aluminum semi-fabricated products in the US and Canada -- measured in shipments by domestic producers plus imports -- totaled an estimated 1.603 billion lb, 2.1% below the March 2015 total, the association said Monday.
Demand for aluminum sheet and plate totaled 875 million lb in March, down 3.3%, while extruded product demand was up 2.9% at 493 million lb.
Estimated shipments of aluminum ingot for castings, exports and other uses in March totaled 682 million lb, unchanged from a year ago, and apparent consumption in domestic US and Canada markets totaled 2.020 billion lb in March, down 2.1%.
Estimated apparent consumption through the first quarter of 2016 was 5.788 billion lb, down 0.4% from the same period in 2015.
Producer inventories totaled 2.926 billion lb in March, down 3.4% from the February 2016 total of 3.072 billion lb. Producer inventories were down 4.6% compared with the year before.
The US aluminum industry bought an estimated 746 million lb of aluminum scrap in February, according to the most recent aluminum recycling statistics from the US Geological Survey, up 4.4% from the February 2015 total.
The recovery of aluminum and aluminum alloys from scrap totaled an estimated 653 million lb in February, up 4.3% year on year. Preliminary data for the year through February indicated the recovery of aluminum from scrap totaled an estimated 1.301 billion lb, up 0.9% from the 2015 year-to-date total.
Aluminum imports of ingot, scrap and mill products into the US and Canada, excluding cross-border trade, were 708 million lb in March, up 10.3% from March 2015, the association said.
Including scrap, exports totaled 493 million lb in March, down 4.9% from a year ago. Excluding scrap, exports totaled 265 million lb, up 3% from the year-ago period. Exports of scrap alone were down 12.7% year on year.
For the first three months of 2016, preliminary total imports rose 8.4% to 1.791 billion lb, while exports increased 1.3% to 1.433 billion lb.
