Improving Japan Nonferrous Metal Production

Japanese nonferrous metal production decreased for 17 items out of 20 items in August from a year earlier, according to Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. The production was same level as July for electrolytic copper and zinc while the production of rolled aluminium and rolled copper improved from the bottom.

The electrolytic copper production decreased by 3.4% to 129,027 tonnes in August from a year earlier. The zinc production decreased by 29% to 32,812 tonnes due to maintenance at Dowa Metals & Mining’s plant in Akita while the shipment increased by 4% to 47,516 tonnes.

The production of rolled aluminium decreased by 17.1% to 85,097 tonnes in August from a year earlier and the shipment decreased by 18.2% to 81,870 tonnes. The year to year production decrease was as same as 18.3% drop in July. The demand improved for automobile, appliances and export while the can material demand was slow due to bad weather in summer.

The rolled copper production decreased by 21% to 55,677 tonnes and the shipment decreased by 21.3% to 55,169 tonnes in August from a year earlier. The production improved from 60.2% year to year drop in March when the demand improved for semiconductor.