US bauxite imports fall 17.6% in H1 2025 as tariffs and alumina refinery closures weigh

The rate of contraction picked up as the year passed by. This is because imports declined considerably in Q2. The imports during the Q2 of this year were 369 thousand tonnes compared to the Q1 performance of 480 thousand tonnes, a reduction of 111,000 tonnes or a QoQ decrease of 23.1 per cent.

As per the USGS data, the second quarter result also show the same downward trend. The Q2 2025 series was down by 30 per cent compared to the Q2 2024 figure of 527,000 tonnes and was about half the Q2 2023 imports of 733,000 tonnes, indicating the sharp deterioration in the US -based bauxite imports over the last two years.

Jamaica slows while Turkey rebounds

Jamaica and Turkey continued to be the two principal suppliers of bauxite to the US market in 2025, combining to account for the major part of the imports, although their trends differed considerably.

Jamaica exported 429,000 tonnes in Q1, which got reduced to 302,000 tonnes in Q2, leading to a first half (H1) to 731,000 tonnes. Supplies from Jamaica declined sharply quarter on quarter, with Q2 volumes 29.6 per cent lower than Q1, reflecting a clear mid-year slowdown in shipments.

This weakness continued an underlying trend established in previous years. The volume of Jamaican shipments to the US had fallen to 958,000 tonnes in H1 2024, down 12.11 per cent from 1.09 million tonnes in H1 2023. These shipments continued to decline more deeply in H1 2025, with the change to 731,000 tonnes representing a further year-on-year decline of 23.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, the opposite trend was observed in the case of Turkey. The flow from Turkey significantly accelerated from one quarter to the other, increasing from 33,100 tonnes in Q1 to 61,700 tonnes in Q2. As such, the total for the first half of the year in Turkey moved to 94,800 tonnes, translating to a quarter-on-quarter increase of 86.4 per cent.

In a yearly comparison, the surge was particularly evident. Imports of bauxite from Turkey into the US was 44,900 tonnes in H1 2024, a sharp decline of 51 per cent from the import figures of 91,700 tonnes registered during H1 2023. During H1 2025, there was a sharp improvement with quantities more than doubling from the previous year and registering a higher amount than in 2023 when there was a slump the previous year due to a decline in Q2 supplies.

Imports from other bauxite-exporting countries also remained low and further decreased over time. Imports decreased from 17,200 tonnes in Q1 to 5,650 tonnes in Q2, resulting in total H1 imports of 22,900 tonnes. This decline of 67.2 per cent further emphasized that the importation of bauxite in the U.S. has been highly concentrated, with Jamaica and Turkey topping the list in 2025.

Refineries closing & tariffs impact demand

A decline in the importation of bauxite can be attributed to the underlying structural problems faced by the US alumina industry. The capacity of the US refineries has been steadily decreasing over the past decades, with three of the largest refineries ceasing operations in the past two decades alone. The total alumina production from the US per year declined from 5 million tonnes of alumina in the year 2000 to 600,000 tonnes.

Previous facility shutdowns include the closure of Sherwin Alumina in Texas in 2016; although idled at first, it closed permanently as a result of an escaping debtor filed through bankruptcy. Also closed in 2015 was the Massena East plant in New York State.

But as of the year 2025, only Gramercy Refinery facility remained functional. It is located in  Louisiana, and is operated by Atlantic Alumina Co. (Atalco).

The pressures escalated in 2025 with the imposition of tariffs. As a result of the President Trump trade policy, the tariffs on the import of bauxite to the US were set at 25 per cent in March, which was later doubled to 50 per cent in June. The tariffs had directly affected the raw material price for Gramercy, which gets most of its bauxite shipments from Jamaica.

Industry estimates indicated that these tariffs raised costs by between 30 to 50 per tonne to ship bauxite, when prices were already volatile around the globe, partly as a result of distortions caused by dumping by China. Many importers had loaded their cargo before the tariff changes, but when those changes occurred, economics became worsened.

While not causing a direct halt in operations, the price increase led to operations adjustments at Gramercy. Throughput decreased; margins decreased; and imports of bauxite into the US decreased. This directly impacted import patterns in bauxite imports falling by 17.6 per cent in H1 2025 compared to the year earlier as a consequence of the subsequent increase in tariffs.