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Numerical data in tables

Aluminum Production

by George Thomas Kurean
The New Book of World Rankings - 1984

Aluminum is the most abundant metal in the earth's crust, of which it constitutes about 8% by weight. (Oxygen 47.3%, Silcon 29.1%, Aluminum 8.1%, Iron 4.6%, Calicium 3.3% Sodium 2.5% Potassium 2.5%, Magnesium 1.7%) It does not occur uncombined but as a constituent of many other metals such as bauxite, mica, feldspar and alum.

Although aluminum compounds were used in antiquity, the metal was not isolated until the 19th century; The commercial process by which aluminum's produced today was developed only in 1886 by two metallurgists working independently; C. M. Hall, a student in Oberlin college, and Paul Herouit, a Frenchman. The Hall-Heroult process is critically dependent on the availability of cheap hydroelectric power. Because of its structural characteristics the metal is used widely in high-tension power transmission, aircraft and kitchenware.

Total Production of Aluminum, Highest to Lowest (in Metric Tons)

Rank Country Production of Aluminum
(1000 metric tons)
1 United States 4,489
2 Soviet Union 2,400
3 Canada 1,118
4 Japan 778
5 West Germany 729
6 Norway 632
7 France 436
8 Spain 397
9 Australia 379
10 China 358
11 Netherlands 318
12 Italy 274
13 Brazil 256
14 Rumania 230
15 India 213
16 Yugoslavia 197
17 Ghana 191
18 New Zealand 155
19 Greece 148
20 Egypt 142
21 Bahrain 141
22 Argentina 134
23 Sweden 97
24 Austria 95
25 Switzerland 82
26 Hungary 74
27 Venezuela 67
28 Poland 66
29 Cameroon 65
30 East Germany 62
31 Mexico 43
32 Suriname 41
33 Turkey 40
34 United Kingdom 38
35 Czechoslovakia 32
36 Taiwan 30
37 Iceland 23
38 South Korea 17
39 Finland 7

Highlights & Findings: There are only half a dozen major producers of aluminum; in others production is marginal. It is interesting to note that none of the Third World bauxite producers appear among the top aluminum producers, except Ghana.

World & Regional Summaries: World production of aluminum in 1978 was 16,960 million tons, double that of the 1969 production of 8,930 million.

Concentration Index:The top three producers account for 47.2% of the world total.

Number of Countries:39

Midpoint:142,000 tons

Period Covered:1980


From the World Almanac and Book of Facts 2001
U.S. Reliance on Foreign Supplies of Minerals

Bauxite & Alumina is 100% imported
Major Sources 95-98 are Australia, Guinea, Jamaica, Brazil
Major Uses are Aluminum Production, Refractories, Abrasives and Chemicals


George Thomas Kurean
Aluminum Production
The New Book of World Rankings - 1984

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