Demand for Japan Aluminium Products to Hit Record in F2008

Japanese domestic demand for aluminium fabricated products is forecasted to increase by 1.2% to 4.483 million tonnes in fiscal 2008 starting April from fiscal 2007, announced by Japan Aluminium Association and other 6 aluminium related industry groups on Thursday. Annual demand is expected to represent slight increase year-on-year and hit the record volume thanks to steady demand from automobile industry and demand recovery from construction market.Domestic demand for aluminium rolled products is forecasted to increase by 0.4% to 2.11 million tonnes in fiscal 2008 from fiscal 2007. Demand is expected to continue increasing from auto industry while to recover from construction market. However, demand would decrease year-on-year from can industry. As total, the growth rate could be slight.Demand for aluminium castings is forecasted to keep flat year-on-year in F2008. More than 90% of aluminium castings are applied to automobiles, mainly for wheels. Japanese domestic automobile production is expected to keep almost flat year-on-year in F2008. On the other hand, demand for aluminium die-castings would increase by 2.9% in F2008 from F2007 with a trend to lighten auto parts. About 80% of aluminium die-castings are adopted to automobiles.Japanese export of aluminium fabricated products increased significantly mainly for Southeast Asia in F2007. In F2008, the growth rate would slow down to 2.5%.