Japan Rolled Al Products Shipment Slightly Decreases in 1H

Japan Aluminium Association announced on Wednesday domestic shipment of primary aluminium rolled products decreased by 0.5% to 2.197 million tonnes in the first half of fiscal 2007 ended September compared with the corresponding period of fiscal 2006. The demand maintained favorable mainly for automobiles and exports while became slower for construction markets due to the influence of Japanese building standard law revision.The shipment decreased by 3.3% to 1.062 million tonnes for rolled products in 1H from a year earlier while increased by 3.5% to 543,100 tonnes for die castings. The shipment increased by 2.1% to 823,000 tonnes for automobiles, by 0.9% to 230,000 tonnes for can materials and by 1.1% to 76,700 tonnes for foils while decreased by 7.9% to 230,000 tonnes for sashes and doors and by 3.2% to 50,700 tonnes for general machines.