Japan Aluminium Die Casting Production Hits Record in 2006

Aluminium die casting production in Japan hit annual record of 1.079 million tonnes in 2006, up by 5.8% from 2005, according to the statistics by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Aluminium die casting demand increased for automobiles, the major application of die casting, and other usages. Aluminium die casting output value increased by 13% to 613.458 billion yen per year in Japan in 2006 from 2005. The value increased largely thanks to upsurge of the output volume and primary aluminium market price. Aluminium die casting production is likely to keep high in Japan in 2007 with active demand mainly for automobiles.Aluminium die casting output increased by 5.9% to 896,394 tonnes for automobiles in Japan in 2006 from 2005, by 7.2% to 61,227 tonnes for general machines, by 1.8% to 28,616 tonnes for electric machines, by 5.5% to 54,022 tonnes for motorcycles and by 3.1% to 39,013 tonnes.Zinc die casting production in Japan increased by 12.1% to 53.291 billion yen in value in 2006 from 2005 due to upsurge of zinc ingot price, while decreased by 1.2% to 35,788 tonnes in volume. Zinc die casting demand was firm for automobiles which increased by 7.9% to 23,114 tonnes, while decreased by 14.4% to 12,674 tonnes for other usages.Japanese total die casting production was 1.122 million tonnes per year in 2006, up by 5.4% from 2005.