US metal importers are racing to build up stockpiles of aluminium ahead of the planned imposition of tariffs by President Donald Trump next month, driving up the premium over London prices.
Imports of the metal — widely used in construction, vehicles and consumer goods such as drinks cans — climbed to more than 580,000 tonnes in January, the highest monthly level since mid-2022, according to US Department of Commerce data. The total was about one-quarter higher than the January average over the previous five years.
The rush comes ahead of Trump’s plan to introduce 25 per cent tariffs on all steel and aluminium imports on March 12, in response to what US officials said were “foreign players” with “surging exports” that were “undermining US producers”. The US imports about 80 per cent of its aluminium.
“I have no doubt that some of the traders would have been pre-shipping some metal in” ahead of tariffs, which had created “plenty of incentives for people to have suddenly moved metal”, said Greg Wittbecker, an independent commodities adviser. “I imagine you’ll see February imports also elevated.”
The biggest contribution to the rise came from Canada, by far the largest foreign supplier of the metal to the US, but there were also significant rises last month in imports from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Australia and South Korea. The commerce department’s figures are based on preliminary import licensing data and official import statistics.
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Aluminium futures prices on the LME rose to their highest level since mid-2024 this week at more than $2,700, though they remain far below 2022 levels.
The US demand has particularly pushed up domestic prices, with the so-called Midwest Premium — the extra amount paid over the London Metal Exchange cash price for US delivery — reaching its highest level since 2022 this week at 39 cents per pound, according to Argus Media data.
One person involved in metals trading said some vessels carrying aluminium, originally destined for Europe, were now being “diverted to the US” by traders looking to beat tariff deadlines.
Kpler, a commodity data firm, said aluminium buyers in the US were racing to “secure supplies”. Such “pre-emptive stockpiling has disrupted short-term trade flows, prompting aluminium exporters, particularly in Asia, to accelerate shipments to the US,” they added.
Last month, the Financial Times revealed that a surge in gold shipments to the US had led to a shortage in London.
Aluminium stocks in Comex warehouses have fallen to their lowest level since 2019, in a sign of traders trying to get ahead of tariffs. Anyone taking aluminium out of the warehouses once tariffs are in place must pay all taxes and levies even if the facility is in the US, since the metal is deemed to be in “free trade zones” where goods are stored on a so-called “duty unpaid” basis.
According to Wittbecker, the aluminium being imported into the US was probably going to non-LME and non-Comex warehouses.
Additional reporting by Ray Douglas
