Where is Aluminum made in the USA?

John Gargano · Jul 4, 2011

I was thinking if I had to make a lot of 1/8" 6061 aluminum parts with a water jet, it might make sense to do it where aluminum pricing is the lowest. I know that because of the price of electricity in the Pacific NW, Alcoa has a couple of plants there where they make primary elements. Would it follow that 1/8" aluminum sheets would have the best price closest to where they make it because the shipping in that area would be less?

I'm currently in Florida. I figure all the metal stock here has to be shipped in from quite distant places.

Do they make good aluminum (6061) in the Pacific Rim? I'm also wondering about having the parts made over there, however, I'll bend over backwards to keep it here if I can.

Thanks!

jCandlish · Jul 4, 2011

There's an Alcoa plant in Knoxville, thanks to the T.V.A.

swamp dweller · Jul 4, 2011

Alcoa and Reynolds both have plants in Massena, N.Y. I've gotten stock from McMaster that had the Massena logo on it.

Machinery_E · Jul 4, 2011

Just my random thoughts-Location matters little...you would have to be using an ultra large amount of it to make it worth while (ie. truckloads) and you would have to locate near a mill that makes the specific 1/8" sheet you need. And could very well be that domestic mills are maxed out and you'll have to get imported material. Prolly best area for savings if you are using a large amount is being able to handle coils instead of sheet. And better yet, running them on stamping presses if possible.

DMF_TomB · Jul 4, 2011

shipping costs

modern shipping costs and methods can be surprising.
.
oranges did not seem cheap whenever i visit Florida.
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most shipping costs are by methods and technology used. Sea Containers not only go on ships but also on trains and trucks. They use cranes that can unload over a 1000 containers in one day. Also massive fork trucks that can pickup a container from train to truck or stack at least 4 high. Computers are used for logistics.
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For example OSB plywood at $7 a sheet. To go from tree to chips and glue to sheets and stacking and shipping to store i am surprised they can even make OSB that cheap let alone get it to the store.
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the old saying cheaper by the ton , well even cheaper by the 1000 ton. Often a heavily overlooked fact in China's competitiveness is the producing and shipping items in bulk and not dealing with small quantities. Thus why even USA corporations that are doing well selling to the International markets with items made in the USA do so by producing in large quantities and shipping and logistics efficiencies. it truly is a modern science.

surplusjohn · Jul 4, 2011

good point DMF. A few years ago I was workign with aluminum tread plate, ie the thin highly polished stuff used for decorative and semi-decorative things like tool boxes. For some reason that was coming out of Turkey. Beautiful stuff, high quality and was the same price as ordinary sheet at the time.

Randolph · Jul 4, 2011

The ALCOA plant in Knoxville, TN, actually in Alcoa, TN just south of Knoxville, only makes aluminum for use in drink cans. When I first went to work there they rolled many kinds of aluminum but over the years the plant evolved into strictly a producer of the drink can product. And they were rolling over 100 million pounds of it a month when I retired back in the 90's. There is also a primary smelter at Alcoa but I think it is temporarily shut down at this time.

4GSR · Jul 5, 2011

The only smelter that Alcoa runs now here in the states, I believe, is at Seadrift, TX. This is what I was told back in 2007 when I interviewed for a job there. They produce the Alumina, this is shipped to the mills where it is made into aluminum, provided I've got my processing correct. There is also a mill north of us, east of Austin, TX, that was rolling large bar and plates. It was shut down, but apparently it has reopened, the last time I passed by there earlier this year.

Kelloggguy · Jul 5, 2011

The Alcoa plant East of Austin is in Rockdale. It closed partially for a time in 2008-2009. Also, there is a large Sherwin Alumina (formerly Reynolds) plant in Ingleside, TX, near Corpus Christi, as well as the Alcoa plant in Point Comfort, TX, near Port Lavaca.
Home -

4GSR · Jul 5, 2011

Kelloggguy said:
The Alcoa plant East of Austin is in Rockdale. It closed partially for a time in 2008-2009. Also, there is a large Sherwin Alumina (formerly Reynolds) plant in Ingleside, TX, near Corpus Christi, as well as the Alcoa plant in Point Comfort, TX, near Port Lavaca.
Home -

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Youre correct, Point Confort, not Seadrift, Thanks, Ken

Rockdale is the one I was thinking about. Thanks, Ken

Ries · Jul 5, 2011

4GSR said:
The only smelter that Alcoa runs now here in the states, I believe, is at Seadrift, TX. This is what I was told back in 2007 when I interviewed for a job there. They produce the Alumina, this is shipped to the mills where it is made into aluminum, provided I've got my processing correct. There is also a mill north of us, east of Austin, TX, that was rolling large bar and plates. It was shut down, but apparently it has reopened, the last time I passed by there earlier this year.

According to Alcoa, they have 9 primary (ingot) aluminum plants in the USA-
Alcoa: Worldwide: Markets: Aluminum Ingot Products: Map of Locations

We have two in Washington State-
one in Ferndale, north of Bellingham, 640 employees, since 1966, and one in Malaga, near Wenatchee, 380 employees, operating for 65 years.

But after they make the ingots, it gets trucked to other plants sometimes to make the finished material, so the location of the primary plant doesnt affect local prices or availability of sheet or sections.

For instance, here is the list of North American slab rolling mills-
Alcoa: Worldwide -- Markets: Aluminum Ingot: Products and ServicesAluminum Ingot: Rolling Slab: Rolling Slab - North America
and neither of our Washington State plants do that- so we make the aluminum, its trucked to Texas or South Carolina, then, trucked back if I want to buy it.

I cant imagine there is much price difference if you live next to the mill- for instance, if a Ryerson buys 10,000 tons a month, they get a price break, and its probably a lot more than the cost of trucking the stuff from Texas to Illinois- so a local guy down the street from the mill could easily charge a quarter more a pound than a dealer 1500 miles away from the plant who buys in huge quantity.

jCandlish · Jul 6, 2011

Ries said:
But after they make the ingots, it gets trucked to other plants sometimes to make the finished material, so the location of the primary plant doesnt affect local prices or availability of sheet or sections.

I've seen it trucked molten for delivery in the Detroit area. I wonder if it was sourced from the Evansville plant, or some other producer?

<jbc>

dazz · Jul 6, 2011

Hi

You are all wrong.

It all comes from a little place called China.

Ries · Jul 7, 2011

dazz said:
Hi

You are all wrong.

It all comes from a little place called China.

Maybe in New Zealand, it does, but China is actually something like number 4, worldwide, in Aluminum production.

The russians are No. 1- Rusal is the largest company worldwide, followed by Alcoa and Alcan.
All of these companies have multiple smelters in more than one country, and it may be possible that China makes slightly more aluminum per year than the USA, but they are far from dominating the market.

All about aluminium

sandman2234 · Jul 7, 2011

Funny part about that aluminum sheet on rolls made in Tennessee... is a lot of it is shipped to Jacksonville to the can plant here owned by the current owners of Anhauser Busch, and it is made into cans, but not for beer, but for soda drinks. Go figure...guess A/B needs to be in the can business to control the price of cans, but can make more money subbing out their own cans.
David from jax

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