Japan Aluminium Rerollers’ Capacity Utilization Rises in 1H

Japanese rolled aluminium makers’ capacity utilization increased by 0.7 percentage points to 91.1% in April-September from same period of 2007, according to Japan Aluminium Association. The higher utilization for flat products, which increased by 3.9 points to 98.9%, contributed to the higher rate while the extrusion products operation was slow with 3.5 points lower rate at 81.1%.

The production decreased by 0.2% to 1.168 million tonnes in the first half year from same period of 2007. The output increased by 3.7% to 712,745 tonnes for flat products while the extrusion output decreased by 5.7% to 455,575 tonnes.