Aluminum is widely used throughout the U.S. economy, particularly
in the transportation, packaging, and construction industries. As a lightweight,
high-strength, and recyclable structural metal, aluminum has and will continue to play an
important role in a healthy economy as applications are extended in the infrastructure,
aerospace, and defense industries.
The U.S. aluminum industry is the world's largest, producing about $33 billion in
products and exports annually. U.S. companies are the largest single producer of primary
aluminum (aluminum made from bauxite ore). The U.S. industry produces more than 22 billion
pounds of primary and secondary (made from recycled metal) metal annually and employs
85,000 people with an annual payroll of $3.4 billion. [DOC 1997]
There are 23 primary aluminum smelting facilities in the United States, operated by a
dozen companies [DOE 1997]. The Standard
Industrial Classification (SIC) for the primary aluminum smelting industry is SIC
3334. Secondary aluminum smelting is grouped under SIC 3341; rolling, drawing, and
extrusion of aluminum are grouped under several four-digit SIC codes within SIC 335
(Rolling, Drawing, and Extruding of Nonferrous Metals).
Shipments from domestic aluminum producers total about $33 billion annually.
The aluminum industry spends more than $2 billion annually on energy, the majority of
which is for electricity.
The majority of U.S. primary aluminum producers are located either in the Pacific
Northwest or the Ohio River Valley.
Primary aluminum is produced from alumina (extracted from bauxite ore) in electrolytic
cells, while scrap metal is melted in furnaces to produce secondary aluminum.
About half of aluminum industry facilities conduct energy-management activities.
