Dealers’ Aluminium Product Inventory and Sales Down in March

Aluminium rolled product inventory and sales volume decreased in March from a year earlier at the dealers in Tokyo and Osaka, according to the seasonal survey for the members of Japan Light Metal Merchant’s Association. The total inventory volume decreased by 1% to 24,059 tonnes and the sales volume decreased by 10.2% to 30,362 tonnes in March from a year ago.The inventory at dealers around Tokyo kept almost flat at 17,703 tonnes in March from a year earlier, while decreasing by 3.3% to 7,098 tonnes at dealers around Osaka. Aluminium plate inventory increased by 0.2% to 18,899 tonnes while aluminium extrusion inventory downed by 4.7% to 5,902 tonnes.Dealers did not build up their inventories before primary aluminium price increased by 30 yen per kilogram in April which was an indicator for aluminium rolled product prices. Dealers seemed to minimize their inventories with concerns that primary aluminium price might turn downtrend.Sales volume of aluminium rolled products decreased by 11.8% to 22,463 tonnes at dealers around Tokyo and declined by 5.3% to 7,889 tonnes at dealers around Osaka in March from a year ago. Aluminium plate sales downed by 9.8% to 21,544 tonnes and aluminium extrusion decreased by 11.2% to 8,819 tonnes.There was little nominal demand in March even though primary aluminium price upped in April. Dealers’ shipment is slow when the demand has been adjusted for semiconductor manufacturing equipment.