Aluminum

a light silvery-white ductile metal
group III of the periodic table
high electrical conductivity, good resistance to corrosion
Specific gravity: 2.7 mass is only about 25 percent that of iron and 30 percent of copper, brass, or zinc.

Aluminum is the third most abundant element in the surface of the earth, and it is principally mined and extracted from bauxite ore. This is then refined into alumina, which, in turn, is smelted to produce aluminum. The resulting metal ingots are typically further processed into sheet, plate, foil, cast products, and extruded products.

Aluminum holds the distinction of being both the youngest and most widely used among all the base nonferrous metals in the United States. In fact, in regard to that latter point, domestic mill and ingot shipments in 1995 are expected to have exceeded 21 billion pounds, with the transportation industry consuming the largest proportion of those goods. The downside for aluminum lies in its energy requirements, which account for nearly a third of the cost of producing primary metal.

Scrap Facts. Aluminum scrap plays a significant role in meeting total aluminum demand among all markets, as well as in reducing energy requirements. The U.S. scrap supply is divided nearly perfectly in half among prompt (or new) scrap and obsolete materials, including used beverage cans—more than 2 billion pounds of which were recycled last year, representing a recycling rate in excess of 60 percent.

Pricing Info. U.S. market prices for primary aluminum, secondary alloy, and scrap are generally based on published values in trade periodicals, as opposed to producer list prices. Furthermore, most prices are referenced to and parallel the London Metal Exchange, a cash and futures market where spot and forward prices are established daily. As background, LME cash averaged 82 cents per pound last year, 22 percent above the 1994 average of 67 cents.