Japan Aluminium Product Output and Shipment Keeps Flat in F2006

Japanese domestic production of aluminium manufactured products decreased by 1% to 761,895 tonnes in fiscal 2006 ended March 2007 compared with fiscal 2005 while the shipment kept flat at 815,591 tonnes, according to Japan Aluminium Products Association. Both production and shipment kept almost the same level as previous year thanks to the demand recovery of construction materials.The shipment increased for daily goods and construction materials in fiscal 2006 from fiscal 2005 while decreased slightly for industrial products. The shipment represented year-to-year decrease for castings, ladders and stepladders in fiscal 2006. The shipment increased by 0.6% to 54.21 million square meters for anodic oxide coatings in fiscal 2006 from fiscal 2005.