U.S. aluminium consumers facing elevated all-in costs due to tariffs & supply limits – 24 January 2026
- U.S. buyers continue to pay significantly above base LME pricing owing to high import tariffs and constrained global supply, with “all-in” delivered costs above USD 5,000/t in some reports, indicating the impact of trade policy on regional pricing.
👉 Source: Reuters commodities news — https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/metals/us-aluminium-consumers-pay-spiralling-cost-tariffs-2026-01-21/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Summary :
There are a handful of greenfield projects but these are several years away from producing first metal, even assuming they can compete with Big Tech for long-term power supplies.
In the interim, the U.S. remains dependent on imports of primary metal and these have been falling. Volumes were down by 14% in the first 10 months of 2025 relative to 2024.
Canada, historically the largest supplier to the U.S. market, started diverting shipments to Europe around May last year.
It exported 225,000 tons to the Netherlands, 89,000 tons to Italy and 29,000 tons to Poland between May and October, according to the World Bureau of Metal Statistics.
U.S. stocks of primary metal have been sliding.
The short time-lag between tariff hikes didn’t allow for much preemptive stockpiling and in-country inventory has shrunk from 750,000 tons at the start of 2025 to below 300,000 tons, according to consultancies Harbor Aluminum and Wittsend Commodity Advisors.
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