Rolled Al Output Turns Y/Y Decrease since Jan08 in Osaka

Rolled aluminium production decreased by 5.9% to 26,425 tonnes around Osaka in October from a year earlier, according to Japan Aluminium Association. The local production represented the first year-on-year decrease since January 2008. The output turned down for strips and maintained slow for extrusions to reflect economic slowdown.

The production of flat products decreased by 5.4% to 22,676 tonnes in October from a year ago, which represented the first y/y down since January though which had kept 2-digit y/y increase for July-September. The output of strip with more than 0.5 millimeters thickness hit the lowest volume in 2 years and 2 months. The output of thin strip with less than 0.5mm thickness hit the bottom since February 2008.

The production of extrusions and extracts decreased by 8.4% to 3,749 tonnes in October from a year earlier, which maintained less than 4,000 tonnes for 7 months in a row. Aluminium foil production decreased by 6.9% to 5,086 tonnes. The output volume kept more than 5,000 tonnes despite of y/y down thanks to the firm demand for electrolytic foil to use inside capacitors.