Japan Aluminium Demand Drops by 14.4% in F2008

Japanese demand of aluminium ingot and products decreased by 14.4% to 3.798 million tonnes in fiscal 2008 ended March 2009 from fiscal 2007, announced by Japan Aluminium Association on Wednesday. The demand decreased for automobile and other applications in the second half year while the demand hit 2.2 million tonnes in the first half.

The demand was less than 2 million tonnes for rolled products and less than 1 million tonnes for die-casting in fiscal 2008. The demand decreased for all applications except for power generation from fiscal 2007. The demand deceased by 20.8% to 1.363 million tonnes for automobile while the demand decreased by only 0.1% to 422,567 tonnes for can material.

Japanese production of aluminium flat and extrusion products decreased by 29.9% to 137,442 tonnes in April from a year earlier. The shipment decreased by 30.7% to 137,718 tonnes. The production and shipment deceased for 7 months in a row. The production decreased by 28.3% to 85,244 tonnes for flat products and by 32.4% to 52,198 tonnes for extrusion. The shipment decreased by 29.7% to 86,159 tonnes for flat products and by 32.3% to 51,559 tonnes for extrusion. The foil production decreased by 39.7% to 6,949 tonnes and the shipment decreased by 31.1% to 7,901 tonnes.