# Aluminum Price per kg (United States)

As of October 2026, the US benchmark price of aluminum is $3.63 per kg contained. Over the past month the price has slipped 7.7%, and it is +38.8% over the year.

Source: https://www.stockatomics.com/commodities/aluminum-price-us
Category: Critical Minerals (https://www.stockatomics.com/commodities/critical-minerals)
Lists: US Critical Minerals List, EU Critical Raw Materials Act

## Key figures

| Figure | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Price per kg contained | $3.63 |
| Price type | Stockatomics monthly benchmark |
| Price month | October 2026 |
| 1-month change | −7.7% |
| 6-month change | +12.4% |
| 1-year change | +38.8% |
| 5-year change | +19.9% |
| 12-month high | $3.98 |
| 12-month low | $2.92 |
| Last updated | 18 October 2026 |

## Price summary

The price is down 7.7% over the past month and +38.8% over the past year. In the past year the monthly price has moved between $2.92 and $3.98. Measured over longer windows, aluminum is +38.8% on the year and +19.9% over five years.

## Aluminum monthly prices

USD per kg contained, newest first.

| Month | Price | Change |
| --- | --- | --- |
| October 2026 | $3.63 | 0.0% |
| September 2026 | $3.63 | 0.0% |
| August 2026 | $3.63 | −7.6% |
| July 2026 | $3.93 | −1.3% |
| June 2026 | $3.98 | +6.7% |
| May 2026 | $3.73 | +7.5% |
| April 2026 | $3.47 | +8.4% |
| March 2026 | $3.20 | −0.9% |
| February 2026 | $3.23 | +10.6% |
| January 2026 | $2.92 | −1.4% |
| December 2025 | $2.96 | −1.0% |
| November 2025 | $2.99 | +4.9% |
| October 2025 | $2.85 | +6.7% |
| September 2025 | $2.67 | +2.3% |
| August 2025 | $2.61 | +3.6% |
| July 2025 | $2.52 | +3.3% |
| June 2025 | $2.44 | −4.3% |
| May 2025 | $2.55 | −11.5% |
| April 2025 | $2.88 | −5.0% |
| March 2025 | $3.03 | +3.4% |
| February 2025 | $2.93 | 0.0% |
| January 2025 | $2.93 | +0.7% |
| December 2024 | $2.91 | +0.3% |
| November 2024 | $2.90 | +6.2% |
| October 2024 | $2.73 | +1.5% |
| September 2024 | $2.69 | −1.8% |
| August 2024 | $2.74 | −3.9% |
| July 2024 | $2.85 | +2.5% |
| June 2024 | $2.78 | +3.3% |
| May 2024 | $2.69 | +3.9% |
| April 2024 | $2.59 | +3.2% |
| March 2024 | $2.51 | +1.6% |
| February 2024 | $2.47 | −2.0% |
| January 2024 | $2.52 | 0.0% |
| December 2023 | $2.52 | +0.4% |
| November 2023 | $2.51 | +1.6% |
| October 2023 | $2.47 | −3.1% |
| September 2023 | $2.55 | −0.8% |
| August 2023 | $2.57 | −2.3% |
| July 2023 | $2.63 | −1.9% |
| June 2023 | $2.68 | −1.5% |
| May 2023 | $2.72 | −0.7% |
| April 2023 | $2.74 | −5.8% |
| March 2023 | $2.91 | +0.3% |
| February 2023 | $2.90 | +2.8% |
| January 2023 | $2.82 | +6.0% |
| December 2022 | $2.66 | +0.4% |
| November 2022 | $2.65 | −6.0% |
| October 2022 | $2.82 | −6.0% |
| September 2022 | $3.00 | +7.9% |
| August 2022 | $2.78 | −14.7% |
| July 2022 | $3.26 | −12.1% |
| June 2022 | $3.71 | +2.8% |
| May 2022 | $3.61 | −5.7% |
| April 2022 | $3.83 | +1.9% |
| March 2022 | $3.76 | +6.8% |
| February 2022 | $3.52 | +7.3% |
| January 2022 | $3.28 | 0.0% |
| December 2021 | $3.28 | −3.0% |
| November 2021 | $3.38 | +6.3% |
| October 2021 | $3.18 | −2.5% |
| September 2021 | $3.26 | +7.9% |
| August 2021 | $3.02 | +2.7% |
| July 2021 | $2.94 | +4.3% |
| June 2021 | $2.82 | +4.8% |
| May 2021 | $2.69 | +12.1% |
| April 2021 | $2.40 | +4.8% |
| March 2021 | $2.29 | +2.2% |
| February 2021 | $2.24 | +4.7% |
| January 2021 | $2.14 | +1.4% |
| December 2020 | $2.11 | +6.6% |
| November 2020 | $1.98 | +5.3% |
| October 2020 | $1.88 | +6.8% |
| September 2020 | $1.76 | +1.7% |
| August 2020 | $1.73 | +3.0% |
| July 2020 | $1.68 | +5.0% |
| June 2020 | $1.60 | −5.3% |
| May 2020 | $1.69 | −8.2% |
| April 2020 | $1.84 | −5.2% |
| March 2020 | $1.94 | −2.0% |
| February 2020 | $1.98 | −2.5% |
| January 2020 | $2.03 | −0.5% |
| December 2019 | $2.04 | +1.0% |
| November 2019 | $2.02 | −2.9% |
| October 2019 | $2.08 | −0.5% |
| September 2019 | $2.09 | +0.5% |
| August 2019 | $2.08 | +1.0% |
| July 2019 | $2.06 | - |

## What aluminum is used for

Aluminum (Al) is the most widely used non-ferrous metal, prized for being light, strong for its weight, conductive and endlessly recyclable. **Transport** is its largest market, from car bodies and battery enclosures to aircraft, followed by **construction**, **packaging** and **electrical cable**, where aluminum carries most of the world's overhead high-voltage power. Electrification adds weight to almost every one of these markets: an electric car uses noticeably more aluminum than a petrol one, while grids and solar farms need it in bulk.

### Other uses

- Window frames, cladding and curtain walls
- Drinks cans and foil, the most recycled packaging there is
- Heat exchangers, radiators and electronics housings
- Alumina for refractories, abrasives and technical ceramics

## Aluminum supply and demand factors

Demand for aluminum follows construction, transport and packaging, with electrification adding a steady new layer through vehicles, grids and solar. Supply is shaped above all by **power**: smelting is so electricity-hungry that capacity clusters where energy is cheap, and China produces more than half the world's primary metal. For US buyers there is a second layer to the price, the delivered **premium** paid on top of the international benchmark, which rises with freight, tariffs and tight local stocks.

### What moves the price

- Chinese output and the cap on its smelting capacity
- Energy prices, which can force smelters in Europe and the US to curtail
- US tariffs on imported metal and the premium they create
- Car, construction and packaging demand

## Aluminum price history

Aluminum spent much of the 2010s weighed down by Chinese overcapacity, until Beijing capped its smelting capacity and the market tightened. Energy has driven the biggest moves since: the power crisis of 2021 and the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 sent prices to record highs, as smelters in Europe and China curtailed output.

For US buyers, trade policy matters as much as the international price. Tariffs on imported aluminum, first in 2018 and raised sharply in 2025, have lifted the delivered US premium to record levels, one reason US prices can move differently from London prices. As of October 2026, the Stockatomics benchmark price is $3.63 per kg contained.

## Where aluminum is produced

Bauxite, the ore of aluminum, is mined mainly in **Guinea** and **Australia**, with China, Brazil and Indonesia also major sources. **China** refines most of the world's alumina and smelts more than half of its primary aluminum, followed by India, Russia, Canada and the Gulf states. The United States produces only a small share of the primary aluminum it uses and imports most of the rest, largely from **Canada**.

## Why aluminum is a critical mineral

Aluminum is on the **US critical minerals list**, and bauxite, alumina and aluminum are on the **EU critical raw materials list**. It runs through almost every industrial sector and through defence, grids and transport. Primary smelting is concentrated where power is cheap, above all in China, and the United States now produces only a small share of the primary metal it uses, which leaves it reliant on imports and exposed to energy shocks abroad.

## How the aluminum benchmark price is calculated

Stockatomics publishes a monthly US benchmark price for aluminum in US dollars per kg contained, reading as of October 2026. It is a price for aluminum metal traded into the United States, not for bauxite or alumina, and because it is a US price it can move differently from exchange prices quoted elsewhere.

### Converting the price

- Per tonne: multiply the price per kg by 1,000
- Per pound: multiply the price per kg by 0.4536

## Aluminum stocks

| Company | Ticker | Exchange | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Alcoa](https://www.stockatomics.com/companies/alcoa-nyse-aa) | AA | NYSE | Producer |
| [Chalco](https://www.stockatomics.com/companies/chalco-hkg-2600) | 2600 | HKG | Producer |
| [Century Aluminum](https://www.stockatomics.com/companies/century-aluminum-nasdaq-cenx) | CENX | NASDAQ | Producer |
| [China Hongqiao](https://www.stockatomics.com/companies/china-hongqiao-hkg-1378) | 1378 | HKG | Producer |
| [Norsk Hydro](https://www.stockatomics.com/companies/norsk-hydro-osl-nhy) | NHY | OSL | Producer |
| [Rio Tinto](https://www.stockatomics.com/companies/rio-tinto-nyse-rio) | RIO | NYSE | Producer |
| [South32](https://www.stockatomics.com/companies/south32-asx-s32) | S32 | ASX | Producer |

All 7 aluminum stocks: https://www.stockatomics.com/commodities/aluminum-stocks

## FAQ

### What is the price of aluminum per kg today?

As of October 2026, the US benchmark price of aluminum is $3.63 per kg contained. Stockatomics updates it every month.

### Why can the US aluminum price differ from the London price?

The London price is a global benchmark for metal in exchange warehouses. US buyers pay that plus a delivered premium, which rises with freight costs, tight local stocks and, above all, US import tariffs.

### What is aluminum mainly used for?

Transport, construction, packaging and electrical cable, with electric vehicles, grids and solar adding growing demand.

### Where does the United States get its aluminum?

Mostly from imports, led by Canada, because the US now runs only a handful of primary smelters.

### How is the aluminum benchmark price calculated?

The Stockatomics benchmark for aluminum is a monthly US price in US dollars per kg contained, published every month and current as of October 2026.

## Related commodities

- [Gallium price per kg](https://www.stockatomics.com/commodities/gallium-price-us): $1,530 per kg contained
- [Lithium price per kg](https://www.stockatomics.com/commodities/lithium-price-us): $89.62 per kg contained
- [Copper price per kg](https://www.stockatomics.com/commodities/copper-price-us): $13.92 per kg contained
- [Boron price per kg](https://www.stockatomics.com/commodities/boron-price-us): $5.27 per kg contained
- [Manganese price per kg](https://www.stockatomics.com/commodities/manganese-price-us): $0.58 per kg contained
- [Scandium price per kg](https://www.stockatomics.com/commodities/scandium-price-us): $5,200 per kg contained

## Sources

- U.S. trade data: the monthly aluminum price.
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS): the US critical minerals list.
- Company filings: the listed companies and their roles.

Last updated 18 October 2026.