Japan Al Re-rollers’ Operation Sharply Declines in November

Operating rate at Japanese aluminium re-rollers sharply dropped down in November. Operating rate plunged to lower than 80% for aluminium extrusions and to below 90% for aluminium flat products, according to Japan Aluminium Association. Re-rollers’ operations significantly slowed due to the total demand recessions, especially from automobile industry. Operating rate is expected to have become even worse in December. Low operations would continue for a certain term.

Re-rollers’ operating rate lowered by 6.3 percentage points to 89.6% for flat aluminium products in November from a year earlier. Their shipment volume was totally low except for consumer electronics fields including aluminium fin materials. The shipment volume decreased by about 20% y/y for can materials and represented y/y decline for other applications such as plain foils and printing boards. General machine related shipment declined more than 20% due to the sudden downturn in vehicle production and manufacturing industries’ expenditure. The shipment also decreased by 5 points for export from a year earlier.

Re-rollers’ aluminium extrusion shipment decreased by 2-digit in November from a year earlier when construction market maintained stagnant. The shipment declined by 28% y/y for automobile related applications and almost halved for general machines. The operating rate for aluminium extrusions worsened by 13 points to 73.7%.

Consequently, the total operating rate for extrusions and flat products was 82.6% in November, down by 9.1 points from a year earlier. The contrast is vivid compared with autumn 2007 when the operating rate kept above 90%.