U.S. exports of aluminum 2010-2023

In 2023, the United States exported some 3.3 million metric tons of aluminum, up slightly from 3.04 million metric tons in the previous year.

Aluminum industry worldwide

In 2023, China was the largest producer of primary aluminum worldwide, by a large margin. That year, aluminum production in China amounted to 41 million metric tons, while India came in second place with four million metric tons of primary aluminum. The United States was the world's ninth-largest aluminum producer in 2023. Though aluminum is used in many different industries, the construction sector was the leading buyer of semi-finished aluminum, at 25 percent of the global demand as of 2020.

Aluminum recycling in the United States

Aluminum is one of the most commonly recycled materials in the United States among consumers. According to a 2017 survey, 76 percent of Americans recycle aluminum, or some other kind of metal. Aluminum can also be recycled from scrap metal. In 2019, around 76 billion U.S. dollars worth of aluminum was recycled from scrap, compared to about 12.4 billion U.S. dollars of iron and steel and 5.33 billion U.S. dollars of copper.