Japanese rolled aluminium products production decreased by 0.3% to 165,644 tonnes including flat and extruded products in February from a year earlier, which decreased for 9 straight months, according to Japan Aluminium Association. The shipment increased by 1.4% to 170,370 tonnes and represented the first year-to-year increase since May 2011. The demand is gradually recovering along with car output increase in Japan.
Production and shipment of flat rolled aluminium showed year-to-year decrease for 9 months in a row through February. The shipment increased by 4.9% to 12,742 tonnes for automobile while decreased by 7.7% to 31,266 tonnes for can material and decreased by 5.2% to 16,835 tonnes for export. Production of extruded aluminium kept year-to-year increase for 5 straight months through February. The shipment maintained year-to-year increase for 7 months. The shipment was steady for construction and car industries. Production and shipment of aluminium foil maintained low in February. The shipment for capacitors dropped by 48.6% to 1,750 tonnes.