NEW YORK, Aug. 18 -- The annual rate of primary U.S. aluminum production rose 8.0 percent to 1,722,329 tonnes in July from 1,594,096 tonnes in July 2009, and was up 0.2 percent from June's annual rate of 1,719,625 tonnes, the Aluminum Association said in its latest report.

For the year through July, the annual production rate was off 5.6 percent at 1,714,407 tonnes from an annual production rate of 1,816,286 tonnes for the comparable 2009 period.

Actual production for July came to 146,280 tonnes, up from 135,389 tonnes in July 2009, and from 141,339 tonnes produced in June, the association said.

Actual production for the first seven months of the year was lower at 995,765 tonnes than 1,054,939 tonnes in the year-ago period, the association said.

July's average daily production rose to 4,719 tonnes from 4,367 tonnes in July 2009, and was higher than 4,711 average tonnes produced in June, the aluminum group added.

It also said that average daily production fell to 4,697 tonnes in the first seven months from 4,976 tonnes in the same period of 2009.

The association said companies participating in the survey account for 100 percent of U.S. primary aluminum production.