Aluminum is the world’s most used metal excluding iron. Typically blended into an alloy, aluminum is most commonly combined with zinc, copper, silicon, magnesium and manganese. Pure aluminum is silvery-white, non-magnetic and is also notable for its low density, relatively light weight and resistance to corrosion.
US import data presented below is at the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level, specifically 76 for aluminum including articles made with aluminum.
Of the $22.3 billion in total American imports under HTS code 76 during 2019, 40.2% was unwrought aluminum metal, 18.7% was aluminum plates and sheets, 8.1% was miscellaneous aluminum, 7.8% was for aluminum structures such as towers or bridges, 5.6% was aluminum foil, 5.5% was aluminum tableware, kitchenware or other household items, 4.3% was aluminum bars and rods, 3.6% was aluminum scrap, 2.8% was aluminum wire, 1.3% is aluminum cans, boxes and similar containers, while 0.6% is aluminum tubes and pipes.
Countries Exporting Aluminum to America
Top 15
Below are the 15 countries from which the United States purchases the highest dollar value worth of aluminum. These suppliers accounted for 80% of all US aluminum imports during 2019.
- Canada: US$7 billion (31.6% of total US imported aluminum)
- China: $2.5 billion (11.2%)
- United Arab Emirates: $1.4 billion (6.2%)
- Mexico: $1 billion (4.7%)
- Germany: $844.4 million (3.8%)
- Bahrain: $757.1 million (3.4%)
- India: $670.6 million (3%)
- Russia: $631.9 million (2.8%)
- Australia: $610.1 million (2.7%)
- Argentina: $424.8 million (1.9%)
- Qatar: $418.9 million (1.9%)
- South Korea: $401.9 million (1.8%)
- South Africa: $397.4 million (1.8%)
- Taiwan: $367.2 million (1.6%)
- Italy: $354 million (1.6%)
By value, the top 6 suppliers represent about three-fifths (60.8%) of all US aluminum imports.
Fastest-Growing
The following list is sorted in ascending order presenting the top 15 suppliers based on the greatest percentage increases in the value of aluminum shipments to America from 2015 to 2019.
- Australia: Up 454% from 2015
- India: Up 185%
- Taiwan: Up 155.8%
- South Africa: Up 151.8%
- Bahrain: Up 151.3%
- Italy: Up 122%
- Argentina: Up 104.2%
- United Arab Emirates: Up 95.1%
- South Korea: Up 91.8%
- Qatar: Up 86.7%
- Germany: Up 40.8%
- Mexico: Up 24.8%
- Canada: Down -3.5%
- Russia: Down -16.9%
- China: Down -20.2%
Contrasted against the overall 24.8% increase in US imports of aluminum during the 5-year period, three top among the top suppliers (China, Russia and Canada) fell below the global average benchmark for expanding aluminum sales to the United States.
Australia overtook India in 2019 to become America’s fastest-growing top aluminum supplier.
Deficit Creators
America does produce and sell its own aluminum on international markets. In 2019, the United States shipped $10.9 billion worth of aluminum to its trade partners. However, American revenues from exported aluminum fall far short of the -$22.9 billion that the US spent on imported aluminum thus resulting in a -$11.4 billion product category deficit.
Below you will find the 15 countries that caused America’s highest deficits from buying and selling aluminum on international markets, incurring a subtotal deficit of -$12.7 billion for 2019.
- Canada: -US$4.3 billion (product deficit up 3.8% since 2015)
- China: -$1.8 billion (up 22%)
- United Arab Emirates: -$1.4 billion (up 105.9%)
- Bahrain: -$755.8 million (up 152.5%)
- Germany: -$698.5 million (up 74.3%)
- Russia: -$612.5 million (down -18.7%)
- Australia: -$544.9 million (up 866.1%)
- Argentina: -$416.6 million (up 116.7%)
- Qatar: -$413.9 million (up 88%)
- South Africa: -$393.4 million (up 159.8%)
- India: -$305.4 million (up 201.5%)
- Oman: -$285.5 million (up 8589.9%)
- Italy: -$285.1 million (up 197%)
- Saudi Arabia: -$261.5 million (up 99.8%)
- Thailand: -$246.7 million (up 4.3%)
Among these top suppliers, aluminum deficits at America’s expense expanded the fastest over the 5-year period with: Oman (up 8,590%), Australia (up 866.1%), India (up 201.5%), Italy (up 197%), South Africa (up 159.8%) and Bahrain (up 152.5%).
Searchable List of US Aluminum Suppliers
The table below shows the dollar amount for aluminum supplied to the US in 2019 by country. Also shown is the percentage value change for each supplier since 2018.
You can change presentation order by clicking the triangle icon at the top of the columns. An entry in the right-most column means that 2019 data was unavailable.
| Rank | Supplier | Imported Aluminum (US$) | 2018-9 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Canada | $7,033,518,000 | -14.6% |
| 2. | China | $2,500,060,000 | -16.6% |
| 3. | United Arab Emirates | $1,382,686,000 | -14.1% |
| 4. | Mexico | $1,041,758,000 | -14.9% |
| 5. | Germany | $844,433,000 | +22.8% |
| 6. | Bahrain | $757,128,000 | +10.1% |
| 7. | India | $670,598,000 | -6.6% |
| 8. | Russia | $631,881,000 | -36.2% |
| 9. | Australia | $610,098,000 | +62.4% |
| 10. | Argentina | $424,827,000 | -8.1% |
| 11. | Qatar | $418,947,000 | +42.8% |
| 12. | South Korea | $401,850,000 | +20.6% |
| 13. | South Africa | $397,407,000 | -21.3% |
| 14. | Taiwan | $367,221,000 | +14.1% |
| 15. | Italy | $353,961,000 | +17% |
| 16. | Thailand | $309,219,000 | +5.4% |
| 17. | Saudi Arabia | $302,410,000 | +23.1% |
| 18. | Japan | $297,700,000 | -28.3% |
| 19. | Turkey | $294,320,000 | +59.1% |
| 20. | Oman | $288,542,000 | -0.3% |
| 21. | Indonesia | $256,386,000 | -23.5% |
| 22. | Colombia | $255,330,000 | +15.5% |
| 23. | France | $229,417,000 | -24.5% |
| 24. | Brazil | $219,678,000 | -3.5% |
| 25. | United Kingdom | $217,748,000 | +24.4% |
| 26. | Austria | $200,462,000 | -13.2% |
| 27. | Vietnam | $185,512,000 | +20.4% |
| 28. | Greece | $168,557,000 | +10.2% |
| 29. | Malaysia | $115,803,000 | +31.3% |
| 30. | Spain | $115,041,000 | +26.5% |
| 31. | Belgium | $79,721,000 | +31% |
| 32. | Sweden | $69,103,000 | -5.9% |
| 33. | Netherlands | $68,599,000 | -6% |
| 34. | Switzerland | $64,889,000 | +27.9% |
| 35. | Slovenia | $53,368,000 | +8.7% |
| 36. | Romania | $48,903,000 | +60.2% |
| 37. | Egypt | $46,810,000 | +15.1% |
| 38. | Luxembourg | $44,104,000 | +21.5% |
| 39. | Norway | $43,632,000 | -36.3% |
| 40. | Poland | $43,105,000 | +9.9% |
| 41. | Hong Kong | $35,123,000 | -13.8% |
| 42. | Dominican Republic | $30,426,000 | -3.9% |
| 43. | New Zealand | $30,176,000 | +22.8% |
| 44. | Israel | $29,902,000 | -3% |
| 45 | Ecuador | $28,367,000 | -11.5% |
| 46 | Czech Republic | $28,295,000 | +14.3% |
| 47 | Croatia | $27,388,000 | +163.2% |
| 48 | Denmark | $25,604,000 | +19% |
| 49 | Costa Rica | $23,501,000 | -3.6% |
| 50 | Armenia | $22,529,000 | -21% |
| 51 | Guatemala | $13,790,000 | -40.4% |
| 52 | Philippines | $12,608,000 | -34.1% |
| 53 | Serbia | $11,636,000 | +526.3% |
| 54 | Honduras | $11,617,000 | +134.1% |
| 55 | Chile | $11,540,000 | -29.1% |
| 56 | Cambodia | $9,631,000 | -17.5% |
| 57 | El Salvador | $6,922,000 | -58.4% |
| 58 | Singapore | $6,641,000 | -39.8% |
| 59 | Finland | $6,631,000 | +5.5% |
| 60 | Slovakia | $5,497,000 | -6.2% |
| 61 | Bulgaria | $5,306,000 | +2.6% |
| 62 | Hungary | $5,165,000 | +127.6% |
| 63 | Portugal | $4,926,000 | -27.4% |
| 64 | Iceland | $4,675,000 | +66.4% |
| 65 | Ireland | $4,430,000 | -39.6% |
| 66 | Bosnia/Herzegovina | $3,687,000 | +161.1% |
| 67 | Panama | $3,347,000 | -55% |
| 68 | Azerbaijan | $3,231,000 | -36.4% |
| 69. | Venezuela | $3,043,000 | -97.2% |
| 70. | Myanmar (Burma) | $2,555,000 | -2.4% |
| 71. | Pakistan | $2,153,000 | -7.3% |
| 72. | Peru | $1,938,000 | +55.3% |
| 73. | Bolivia | $1,327,000 | -43.9% |
| 74. | Ukraine | $1,044,000 | +76.9% |
| 75. | Belarus | $1,031,000 | -11.7% |
| 76. | Curaçao | $816,000 | -20.5% |
| 77. | Bahamas | $745,000 | -11.2% |
| 78. | Lithuania | $729,000 | +6.9% |
| 79. | Nigeria | $704,000 | -86.6% |
| 80. | Jordan | $664,000 | -13.5% |
| 81. | Albania | $633,000 | -42.8% |
| 82. | Trinidad/Tobago | $595,000 | -20.6% |
| 83. | Haiti | $590,000 | -0.3% |
| 84. | Nicaragua | $391,000 | -52.1% |
| 85. | Barbados | $344,000 | -15.7% |
| 86. | Suriname | $302,000 | -30.9% |
| 87. | Cayman Islands | $278,000 | +28.1% |
| 88. | Sierra Leone | $245,000 | +240.3% |
| 89. | Georgia | $233,000 | +194.9% |
| 90. | Paraguay | $233,000 | -89.1% |
| 91. | Tunisia | $233,000 | -93.8% |
| 92. | Uzbekistan | $193,000 | 0% |
| 93. | Montenegro | $183,000 | 0% |
| 94. | Bangladesh | $144,000 | -34.5% |
| 95. | Tokelau | $124,000 | -65% |
| 96. | Estonia | $122,000 | -29.5% |
| 97. | Bermuda | $118,000 | +28.3% |
| 98. | Jamaica | $112,000 | +21.7% |
| 99. | Antigua/Barbuda | $103,000 | -23.1% |
| 100. | Morocco | $99,000 | -94.5% |
| 101. | Turks/Caicos Islands | $95,000 | +72.7% |
| 102. | Latvia | $94,000 | +754.5% |
| 103. | Saint Kitts/Nevis | $88,000 | -51.1% |
| 104. | Saint Lucia | $88,000 | -30.2% |
| 105. | Kazakhstan | $80,000 | +2.6% |
| 106. | Guyana | $73,000 | -6.4% |
| 107. | Macao | $73,000 | -71.6% |
| 108. | Lebanon | $68,000 | -55.8% |
| 109. | St Vincent/Grenadines | $67,000 | +39.6% |
| 110. | Aruba | $59,000 | +28.3% |
| 111. | Belize | $58,000 | +1.8% |
| 112. | Anguilla | $56,000 | 0% |
| 113. | Cyprus | $50,000 | -80.5% |
| 114. | Cameroon | $48,000 | +220% |
| 115. | Nepal | $42,000 | -23.6% |
| 116. | Grenada | $37,000 | +131.3% |
| 117. | Kyrgyzstan | $35,000 | 0% |
| 118. | Sri Lanka | $31,000 | +675% |
| 119. | Uruguay | $29,000 | -93.1% |
| 120. | North Macedonia | $26,000 | +44.4% |
| 121. | Dominica | $22,000 | +175% |
| 122. | Syria | $16,000 | +33.3% |
| 123. | Kuwait | $12,000 | -97.2% |
| 124. | Senegal | $11,000 | -88.4% |
| 125. | Samoa | $11,000 | +10% |
| 126. | Afghanistan | $9,000 | +350% |
| 127. | Malta | $9,000 | -75% |
| 128. | Kiribati | $8,000 | +60% |
| 129. | Brunei Darussalam | $7,000 | 0% |
| 130. | French Polynesia | $7,000 | 0% |
| 131. | New Caledonia | $7,000 | 0% |
| 132. | Niger | $7,000 | -79.4% |
| 133. | Solomon Islands | $6,000 | 0% |
| 134. | Andorra | $5,000 | +150% |
| 135. | Ivory Coast | $5,000 | 0% |
| 136. | Papua New Guinea | $5,000 | 0% |
| 137. | Eswatini | $4,000 | -66.7% |
| 138. | British Virgin Is | $3,000 | -87% |
| 139. | Marshall Islands | $3,000 | 0% |
| 140. | Algeria | $3,000 | 0% |
See also US Iron and Steel Imports by Supplier Countries, America’s Top Trading Partners, United States Top 10 Imports and Top Aluminum Exporters by Country
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Field Listing: Exports – Commodities. Accessed on May 16, 2020
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on May 16, 2020
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on May 16, 2020
SoftSchools.com, Aluminum Facts, Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed on May 16, 2020
Wikipedia, Aluminium. Accessed on May 16, 2020
Wikipedia, Category:Aluminum companies by country. Accessed on May 16, 2020
