Japan Al Rolled Product Shipment Turns to Y/Y Plus in 1H2010

Japanese aluminium re-rollers’ total production increased by 30.3% to 1.022 million tonnes for flat products and extrusions in January-June from the same period of 2009 and the shipment increased by 28.9% to 1.024 million tonnes, announced by Japan Aluminium Association on Wednesday. Both production and shipment represented year-to-year increase for the first time in 6 years.

Production and shipment of aluminium flat products showed first year-to-year increase in 2 years and recovered to above 90% level of the record in January-June 2004. The shipment for can materials decreased by 6.6% to 206,832 tonnes due to slow demand for beverage cans in cool weather. Meanwhile, the shipment almost doubled to 74,783 tonnes for automobiles and increased by 68% to 110,203 tonnes for export mainly to China and Southeast Asia.

Production and shipment of aluminium extrusions represented first year-to-year increase in 6 years. However, the production volume was 41.8% lower and the shipment was 41.6% lower than the recent peak in January-June 1997. The shipment for constructions increased by 4.5% to 210,870 tonnes, showed first increase in 2 years. However the volume remains slow.

Production and shipment of aluminium foil turned to year-to-year plus for the first time in 4 years. The shipment for capacitors expanded by 166% to 21,624 tonnes and hit the record in January-June.