Japanese production of aluminium rolled products decreased by 2.9% to 1.99 million tonnes in fiscal 2011 ended in March 2012 from fiscal 2010, including flat and extruded products. The shipment decreased by 2.6% to slightly less than 2 million tonnes, announced by Japan Aluminium Association on Friday. Both of the production and the shipment represented year-to-year decrease for the first time since fiscal 2009.
The production and the shipment of flat aluminium products decreased by 6.8% to 1.18 million tonnes in fiscal 2011 from fiscal 2010. Both of the production and the shipment showed year-to-year decrease for two years in a row. The demand temporarily deteriorated when Japanese automakers sharply shrank car productions just after the major earthquake. The shipment was also weak for non-car applications such as can materials and export. The production of extruded aluminium products increased by 3.4% to 812,350 tonnes in fiscal 2011 from fiscal 2010 and the shipment increased by 4.1% to 822,332 tonnes. Both of the production and the shipment represented year-to-year increase for two years in a row. The shipment recovered stronger than flat products along with Japanese car makers’ output expansion in second half year when the shipment ratio for car industry is higher than flat products. The demand was also steady from domestic construction sector. As for aluminium foil, both of the production and the shipment decreased for the first time since fiscal 2009.The shipment dropped by more than 20% for capacitors.See an attached table.
