Japan Secondary Al Alloy Output Levels Off in July

Japanese secondary aluminium and alloy production decreased by 0.7% to 98,480 tonnes in July from a year earlier, which represented slight year-on-year down for 2 months in a row, while the shipment increased by 1% to 100,349 tonnes and showed the first y/y increase in 5 months, announced Japan Aluminium Alloy Refiners Association. Secondary aluminium makers seemed to keep high operations thanks to the active production of exporting vehicles in Japan. The shipment increased by 1.3% to 56,931 tonnes for die casting and by 1.2% to 26,335 tonnes for casting.

However, the output and shipment are expected to decline. Japanese major secondary aluminium alloy makers have implemented output reductions by 5-10% since this spring. A maker source said they might widen the reduction range by 2-3 percentage points in September. North American auto market is seriously damaged and Japanese export of engine parts and knockdown sets is expected to decrease in autumn.

Refer attached tables.