Aluminum prices in the U.S. climbed to new record highs on Monday as domestic inventories tightened sharply, driven by the Trump administration’s steel and aluminum tariffs designed to bolster and revitalize America’s industrial base.
According to Bloomberg, the all-in U.S. aluminum price, combining the London Metal Exchange (LME) benchmark and the U.S. Midwest delivery premium, hit a record high of $4,816 per ton, nearly double the level from the December 2023 lows.
The U.S. remains heavily dependent on foreign aluminum imports, lacking any robust domestic production capacity to satisfy domestic demand. Canada, its largest supplier, has seen shipments fall sharply since President Trump imposed aluminum tariffs in March and later doubled them to 50% in June.
From April to July, U.S. aluminum imports averaged 64,000 tons per month below the 2024 baseline, partially offset by an 18,000-ton increase in scrap imports, according to Morgan Stanley analysts led by Amy Gower.
Gower noted that the U.S. aluminum inventory has been shrinking by about 46,000 tons per month due to tariff uncertainty, particularly around the U.S.-Canada trade spat.
