Industry Overview
From Alumina
to Automobiles
The United States' aluminum industry annually produces about $40
billion in products and exports. Aluminum is one of the few products and
industries left in America that truly impacts every community in the
country, either through physical plants and facilities, recycling, heavy
industry, or consumption of consumer goods.
In terms of both its positive economic and environmental impact, the
aluminum industry remains one of our most significant national and
international success stories.
Aluminum Markets
Top markets for the industry are transportation, beverage cans and
other packaging, and building construction.
In 1994, transportation first emerged as the largest market for
aluminum, at about one-quarter of the market, with passenger cars
accounting for the vast majority of the growth. That trend has
continued.
Transportation
The growth in the use of aluminum in transportation applications is
noteworthy, particularly in light of the proliferation of alternative
materials and global competition. Transportation represents the largest
market for aluminum in North America. Automotive and light truck
applications accounted for almost 6 billion pounds of aluminum shipments
in 2006. Aluminum-intensive automobiles include the Audi A8—with
its aluminum body, aluminum front and rear axle, and numerous other
aluminum components—and the Jaguar XK, with its aluminum monocoque
body structure.
In 2006, aluminum overtook iron to become the second most used
material in new cars and trucks worldwide. Automakers are increasingly
choosing aluminum to improve fuel economy, reduce emissions and enhance
vehicle performance.
Packaging
In 2005, containers and packaging ranked second to transportation
with 20 percent of the North American aluminum market, thanks to
shipments of 5.1 billion pounds in products such as beverage cans, food
containers, and household and institutional foil. Product producers
and consumers are increasingly using foil because of the numerous
advantages it holds over competing packaging materials.
Building and Construction
Largely due to products in the residential, industrial,
commercial, farm, and highway sectors, the 2005 building and
construction market accounted for 3.7 billion pounds of net shipments,
good for 14.4 percent of total shipments and the third largest North
American market for aluminum.
Aluminum Products
From Metal Processing to Fabrication and Components
Aluminum Processing
Aluminum originates as an oxide called alumina. Because aluminum
itself does not occur in nature as a metal, the processing of aluminum
took a giant leap forward with the advent of electricity.
Deposits of bauxite ore are mined and refined into alumina—one
of the feedstocks for aluminum metal. Then alumina and
electricity are combined in a cell with a molten electrolyte called
cryolite. Direct current electricity is passed from a consumable carbon
anode into the cryolite, splitting the aluminum oxide into molten
aluminum metal and carbon-dioxide.
The molten aluminum collects at the bottom of the cell and is
periodically "tapped" into a crucible and cast into ingots. While
continual progress has been made over the more than 120-year history of
aluminum processing to reduce the amount of electricity used, there are
currently no viable alternatives to the electrometallurgical
process.
However, between materials recovery and ongoing innovative research
and development efforts, the aluminum industry is constantly searching
for ways in which energy and costs can be reduced. In the past two
decades, the energy efficiency of the production of metal has been
improved by about 20 percent.
Metal Supply
The North American aluminum supply
is comprised of three basic sources:
- Primary (domestic production from ore
material)
- Imports (of primary and secondary ingot and mill
products) and
- Recycled (metal recovered from scrap, also known as secondary
recovery)
In 2005, the aluminum supply in North America totaled 25 billion
pounds, an increase of 6.2 percent over 2004. Just under 50 percent of
the aluminum used in North America comes from domestically produced
primary aluminum while about 30 percent is derived from recycled
materials. The remainder is imported.
Fabricated Products
Castings
The automotive industry is the largest market for aluminum castings,
and cast products make up more than half of the aluminum used in cars.
Cast aluminum transmission housing and pistons have been virtually
universal in cars and trucks throughout the world for years.
Extrusions
Extruded aluminum is the material of choice for countless
applications. Designers and materials specifiers choose aluminum
profiles because extrusion offers so many design advantages: various alloys can
be readily formed into complex shapes; extrusion tooling is inexpensive;
lead times for custom shapes or prototypes are relatively brief; many
different finishes are available; and the life-cycle value of the
product remains high due to aluminum's recyclability.
Mill Products
Aluminum mill products are semi-fabricated products such as sheet,
plate, foil, extruded products, drawing stock, bare wire, ACSR and bare
cable, insulated/covered wire and cable, pigments and powder, forgings,
and impacts. In 2005, shipments of aluminum mill products totaled 17.8
billion pounds, or 69.5 percent of total aluminum demand.
Issues Facing the Industry
Government Policy
Trade
International trade is vitally important to the health of the
aluminum industry, and the industry has generated success both at home
and abroad. U.S. exports of aluminum in 2006 totaled 6.6 billion
pounds—an increase of 17 percent over 2005. Canada and Mexico are
among the U.S. industry's largest trading partners.
Energy
The aluminum industry is a major industrial user of electricity.
Since the electrolytic process is the only commercially proven method of
producing aluminum, the industry has on its own pursued opportunities to
reduce its use of electricity. In the last 50 years, the
average amount of electricity needed to make a pound of aluminum has
been slashed from 12 kilowatt hours to about 7 kilowatt
hours.
Environment and Climate Change
From an environmental perspective, the aluminum industry also is a
leader in the preservation of natural resources. Total North American
aluminum industry supply in 2005 was 25 billion pounds, 29 percent of
which was recycled aluminum. Of the 100.6 billion aluminum cans shipped
in the U.S. in 2006, 51.6 percent (52 billion) were recycled. Almost 90
percent of automotive aluminum is reclaimed and recycled. Recycling of
aluminum saves energy and avoids some 95 percent of the emissions
associated with making new aluminum from ore.
Recycling
The role of recycling in the aluminum industry cannot be overstated.
Recycling is a critical component of the industry, both from its
contributions to the environment and because of its favorable economic
impact on production. This dual benefit is probably the reason
aluminum beverage cans now account for virtually all of the beverage
can market, and a majority of the total single-serve beverage
market.
What's more, the contribution of recycling has had a positive impact
on the industry with energy savings brought about from the increased
proportion of recycled metal as a resource. The energy used to produce
aluminum is saved for future re-use through recycling. Recycling saves
almost 95 percent of the energy needed to produce aluminum from its
original source, bauxite ore.
As the use of aluminum has grown, the industry has become a pioneer
in the field of recycling, earning worldwide recognition as a leader in
materials recovery. The aluminum industry's commitment to recyclable
resources is a major factor both in the industry's growth and in
improved living environments for communities across the country that
benefit economically from the recycling of aluminum.
Today, aluminum is the most commonly recycled
post-consumer metal in the world.
Technology
The aluminum industry employs the latest technology to make the
process of refining bauxite ore and reducing alumina to aluminum more
efficient and energy saving. Through its partnership with the Department of Energy
(DOE), The Aluminum Association is vigorously working to help the
industry make greater gains in reducing energy consumption. For
instance, there are a variety of ongoing technology projects and
activities under the DOE's "Industries of the Future" program. Additionally,
The Aluminum Association, acting on behalf of the industry, has
completed a series of vision and technology roadmap documents. These
roadmaps have defined energy and environmental performance targets,
identified technology barriers, and recommended areas of technology that
are ripe for precompetitive, collaborative efforts among the industry,
government, and academia. In addition to a generic industry technology
roadmap, others have been developed relating to advanced electrode
technology for smelting and fabrication technology specific to the
automotive markets.
Increased use of aluminum in transportation applications and
elsewhere also has significantly reduced energy and fuel consumption and
reduced carbon-dioxide emissions.
Pollution Prevention
The aluminum industry has strategically administered its pollution
control efforts to actively address environmental issues. The track
record is one that brings us great pride. The history, and success, of
the aluminum industry is based on its ability to promote energy
conservation and waste reduction within the industry itself and among
American consumers.
