Großer Brand in US - Aluminiumfabrik: Enthüllung der Schwachstelle in der Lieferkette

Die Krise der Aluminiumindustrie in den Vereinigten Staaten

Recently, a piece of news has caused a stir in the US automotive industry. The plant of Novelis, a leading aluminum company in the United States, located in Oswego, New York, is expected to remain shut down until early next year due to a fire accident. As a core aluminum supplier to the US automotive industry, this plant supplies about 40% of the aluminum sheet raw materials for cars in the entire country. Its shutdown will directly disrupt the production schedules of mainstream automakers such as Ford. How important is aluminum, known as the "universal metal," to the manufacturing industry? Why does the US aluminum supply chain have weaknesses? < h2 > The Universal Metal < / h2 > Aluminum products such as soda cans, toothpaste tubes, and aluminum foil are very common in daily life. Because of their commonness, many people overlook the importance of aluminum to the manufacturing industry. Aluminum is hailed as the "universal metal" in the manufacturing industry. Aluminum has six core advantages: lightweight, high strength, corrosion resistance, easy processing, electrical and thermal conductivity, and recyclability. These advantages make it a core material from basic industries to high - end manufacturing, and it is widely used in key fields such as automotive, aerospace, electronics, construction, packaging, and new energy. < img data - img - size - val = "" src = "https://img.36krcdn.com/hsossms/20251010/v2_85eca0829ed0468787e89be778ef1c0f@000000_oswg25830oswg1000oswg666_img_000?x - oss - process = image/format,jpg/interlace,1" > Aluminum alloy accounts for 65% of the total net mass of the C919 aircraft. In particular, aluminum can meet the current core requirements of the manufacturing industry for "efficiency, low cost, and sustainability." This has led to an increase rather than a decrease in the consumption of aluminum. The most typical example is the new energy vehicle industry. As is well - known, the lighter the vehicle body, the lower the energy consumption. New energy vehicles carry heavy battery packs (usually weighing 400 - 600 kilograms), making their body weight heavier than that of fuel - powered vehicles. Research shows that for every 10% reduction in vehicle weight, the driving range can be increased by about 6% - 8%. For an electric vehicle with a range of 500 kilometers, reducing the weight by 100 kilograms may mean an increase of 30 - 40 kilometers in the driving range. This is an irresistible temptation for both automakers and consumers. Therefore, the demand for lightweighting in new energy vehicles is much higher than that in fuel - powered vehicles. < img data - img - size - val = "" src = "https://img.36krcdn.com/hsossms/20251010/v2_19617988daf7413496373a8dc7409782@000000_oswg128282oswg1000oswg638_img_000?x - oss - process = image/format,jpg/interlace,1" > The main material for the integrated die - casting technology used in cars is aluminum alloy. It is necessary to reduce weight without reducing the safety performance of the vehicle. Aluminum is the best choice as its density is about one - third of that of steel. On the premise of ensuring strength and stiffness, using aluminum alloy parts can reduce weight by 30% - 50% compared with steel parts, significantly improving the driving range. For example, the aluminum content in the body - in - white of the Tesla Model 3 exceeds 90%. Through the integrated die - casting technology, the vehicle body weight is reduced by 200 kg, and the driving range is directly increased by 50 km. The "Technology Roadmap for Energy - Saving and New Energy Vehicles" issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposes that the target for aluminum use per vehicle for lightweighting in China's automotive industry is to reach 250 kg/vehicle in 2025 and 350 kg/vehicle in 2030. In the future, the "value" of aluminum will further increase. < h2 > The Decline of the US Aluminum Industry < / h2 > How is the global production of such an important metal distributed? As expected, China is the country with the highest primary aluminum production in the world. According to the latest data from the World Bureau of Metal Statistics (WBMS), the global primary aluminum production in 2024 was 71.8162 million tons. China led the way with a production of 43.385 million tons, accounting for 60.41% of the global total. It has ranked first in the world in aluminum production for 24 consecutive years. < img data - img - size - val = "" src = "https://img.36krcdn.com/hsossms/20251010/v2_86fb511bc56f400fbdb3aaeccd648c9f@000000_oswg111321oswg1080oswg603_img_000?x - oss - process = image/format,jpg/interlace,1" > Aluminum production and proportion of some countries in the world in 2024 Among them, the US aluminum production was only 670,000 tons, accounting for less than 1% of the global total and only one - sixtieth of China's production. It should be noted that in 1980, the US aluminum production was as high as 4.654 million tons, ranking first in the world. < img data - img - size - val = "" src = "https://img.36krcdn.com/hsossms/20251010/v2_a0967f94ff284e26a170bfc3e4e6192f@000000_oswg8120oswg794oswg452_img_000?x - oss - process = image/format,jpg/interlace,1" > US aluminum production in some years Why has the US aluminum industry declined comprehensively? Let's first break down the aluminum industry chain. The source material is bauxite, a natural ore with a relatively high aluminum content. First, through the Bayer process, aluminum - containing compounds, namely alumina, are refined from bauxite. Alumina is only an intermediate product. The cryolite - alumina molten electrolysis method is needed to obtain pure metallic aluminum, which is commonly known as primary aluminum in the industry. This process requires electricity, so it is also called electrolytic aluminum. After obtaining primary aluminum, it can be further processed into aluminum sheets, aluminum profiles, etc., for use in end - user industries such as automotive, aerospace, and construction. It can be seen that two elements are crucial for primary aluminum production: bauxite and electricity. The decline of the US aluminum industry is related to these factors. On the one hand, the US has extremely scarce bauxite reserves. The global bauxite resources are abundant, with proven reserves of about 29.1 billion tons, mainly distributed in Africa, Oceania, South America, and the Caribbean region. < img data - img - size - val = "" src = "https://img.36krcdn.com/hsossms/20251010/v2_430c7a2a24c8463d9eee685f19942233@000000_oswg90039oswg1080oswg579_img_000?x - oss - process = image/format,jpg/interlace,1" > Proportion of bauxite reserves of some countries in the world According to data released by the US Geological Survey (USGS) in 2015, the proven economically recoverable bauxite reserves in the US are about 20 million tons. This reserve is almost negligible on a global scale. The US aluminum industry has no raw materials to develop on a large scale. On the other hand, the US does not have an advantage in electricity prices. Without bauxite, it can be imported. However, aluminum smelting requires a large amount of electricity. The electrolysis method mentioned above is the only industrial - scale technology for primary aluminum production globally, and its core feature is extremely high energy consumption. Producing one ton of primary aluminum requires 13,000 - 15,000 kilowatt - hours of electricity (equivalent to about 13 - 15 kWh/kg of aluminum), and energy costs account for 40% - 50% of the production cost of electrolytic aluminum. It can be said that the competitiveness of aluminum products depends on whether the electricity price is low. The electricity cost per ton of aluminum in the US reaches $550, far exceeding the level of $290 in Canada and also higher than that in China and Russia. This has led to the loss of competitiveness of US aluminum plants. Under the pressure of global, especially Chinese, production capacity, the shrinkage of the US aluminum industry's production capacity has become inevitable. < h2 > Rescuing the Supply Chain < / h2 > The US has not sat idly by as its aluminum production has shrunk. Instead, it has chosen a "roundabout way" to save the situation. This is recycled aluminum. Recycled aluminum, also known as circular aluminum, refers to the metallic aluminum obtained by melting scrap aluminum products (such as aluminum parts of scrapped cars and used aluminum beverage cans). In essence, it is the "secondary recycling" of previously produced aluminum. Different from primary aluminum, the production process of recycled aluminum has advantages such as low energy consumption, low carbon emissions, and low cost, making it more suitable for the US, which lacks bauxite and electricity. Data shows that in 2023, the US recycled aluminum production was about 3.31 million tons, far exceeding the primary aluminum production, and it has become the mainstay of the US aluminum supply. Novelis, mentioned at the beginning of this article, is the world's largest aluminum recycler, with a globally leading aluminum recycling rate. Even so, the US still relies on imports for about 40% of its aluminum. In particular, recycled aluminum companies like Novelis also rely on imports for the source of aluminum scrap. < img data - img - size - val = "" src = "https://img.36krcdn.com/hsossms/20251010/v2_ca2bda95e8d04b8e9ad7b9bb684b3976@000000_oswg83575oswg407oswg345_img_000?x - oss - process = image/format,jpg/interlace,1" > US scrap aluminum imports in the past 7 years. Imports in 2025 exceeded the historical peak. For this reason, the US Department of Commerce has clearly defined aluminum as a strategic material "vital to national security," believing that the continuous increase in aluminum imports and the decline in domestic production are threatening national security. To revitalize the aluminum industry, the Trump administration's response was the "old - fashioned" approach - raising tariffs. In February 2025, the Trump administration announced that the aluminum import tariff would be raised from 10% to 25%. Four months later, the tariff was further increased to 50%, and the tax - free quotas and exemption policies for traditional allies such as Canada and Mexico were cancelled. The US aluminum industry didn't take this seriously. The core problem of the aluminum industry is still the power supply. To promote the return of the aluminum industry, a large - scale power supply is needed. The load on the US power grid is already very tight and can hardly support the needs of new smelters. To make matters worse, the cash - rich artificial intelligence industry is competing with the aluminum industry for electricity, absorbing most of the new - added power. Cunningly, Trump specifically exempted scrap aluminum from import tariffs, aiming to expand the scale of domestic recycled aluminum. This move has intensified the competition for scrap aluminum resources, leading to an increase in the price of scrap aluminum. < img data - img - size - val = "" src = "https://img.36krcdn.com/hsossms/20251010/v2_5e1872a31e4242dbbbf9e27ba0ed4fba@000000_oswg28161oswg634oswg605_img_000?x - oss - process = image/format,jpg/interlace,1" > The premium price of aluminum in the US Midwest has been rising continuously. As a result, the price of domestic aluminum in the US has risen significantly, pushing up the costs of downstream manufacturing industries and, instead, suppressing the demand for aluminum products. The CEO of a US aluminum company warned: < blockquote > The tariffs will "strangle" the US aluminum demand, running counter to the government's goal of "revitalizing the domestic industry." < / blockquote > Raising tariffs cannot save the US aluminum industry. It is worth noting that although China's bauxite resources account for only 2.3% of the world's total, it produces more than 60% of the world's primary aluminum. According to data from the General Administration of Customs of China, in 2023, China imported a total of 141 million tons of bauxite. China's dependence on imported bauxite exceeds 50%, and its imports are highly concentrated in Guinea and Australia. Any political unrest, policy adjustment, or international shipping crisis in these regions may have a serious impact on China's aluminum industry supply chain. To ensure the safety of the industrial chain, China should plan ahead. 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Großer Brand in einer US-Aluminiumfabrik enthüllt Schwachstelle in der Lieferkette