Japan Rolled Aluminium Capacity Utilization below 90% in F2007

Japanese rolled aluminium makers’ capacity utilization was 89.3% at the average for fiscal 2007 ended March 2008, down by 2.7 percentage points year-by-year, according to Japan Aluminium Association. The utilization hit below 90% for the first time since fiscal 2002. The output of aluminium extrusions remarkably decreased.The capacity utilization was 94% for flat aluminium products through fiscal 2007, improving by 0.3 points year-by-year. Demand was stable from automobiles. On the other hand, the utilization dropped down by 6.6 points to 83.3% for extrusions. Demand from construction market became stagnant due to the confusion after the start of new Japanese building standard law.