Japanese monthly output of rolled aluminium products, including flat and extruded products, decreased by 6% to 159,845 tonnes in December from a year earlier while the shipment decreased by 6.1% to 157,497 tonnes, announced by Japan Aluminium Association. Both of the production and the shipment represented year-to-year minus for seven straight months.
By items, both of the production and the shipment showed year-to-year minus for seven months in a row for flat aluminium products. The export dropped by 23.8% to 13,668 tonnes, especially decreasing to Southeast Asia due to Thai flood. On the contrary, production of aluminium extruded products represented year-to-year plus for three months in a row while the shipment showed year-to-year plus for five straight months. The shipment improved by 3.4% for automobile industry and increased by 13.5% for constructions, both of which are the main application fields. As for aluminium foil, the production represented year-to-year minus for four straight months. Inventory adjustment continued among the users such as capacitor and food sectors.