Aluminum scrap trade had an upward trend from 2011 to 2020, up by 0.1% every year. The trade volume of scrap is directly related to the aluminum price in the LME. With the growth of aluminum prices, downstream companies are more likely to use secondary ingots produced from scrap.
When the price of aluminum ingots is low, the downstream companies are able to purchase primary ingots, and the scrap trade is reduced in this regard. The largest exports volume of aluminum scrap was from the US, which had a 16.9% share of the market. The scrap price is provided by applying a discount to the aluminum ingot. The biggest discount is related to casting scraps. Due to the export of casting scrap, France exports its aluminum scrap with the biggest discount.