Japan Secondary Aluminium Alloy Ingot Demand Continues to Increase in FY2006

Japanese demand of secondary aluminium and aluminium alloy ingot is estimated to increase by 3.1% to 1.8087 million tonnes in fiscal 2006 ending March 2007 from the previous year, announced Japan Aluminium Alloy Refiners Association (JARA) on Monday. The demand would mark the highest volume for 5 consecutive years since fiscal 2002. The demand of primary aluminium alloy ingot used for castings and die-castings is estimated to increase by 2.2% to 269,600 tonnes in fiscal 2006 from 2005, which might also mark the record.Japanese demand of secondary aluminium and aluminium alloy ingot is likely to increase by 4.8% to 1.7548 million tonnes in fiscal 2005 from the previous year. Aluminium alloy demand is firm for castings and die-castings, the main usage of secondary aluminium, when Japanese domestic car production reaches much over 10 million units in fiscal 2005 and the aluminium use has increased for autos.The demand of secondary aluminium alloy ingot could continue to increase for castings and die-castings in fiscal 2006, when the domestic car output would increase slightly and knock down (KD) production could maintain firm in Japan, though the aluminium usage volume per car is unlikely to increase significantly in fiscal 2006.