Japan Secondary Al Alloy Demand Forecasted to Increase Slightly in F2011

Japanese secondary aluminium and aluminium alloy ingot demand is forecasted to increase by 2% to 1.57 million tonnes in fiscal 2011 starting in April compared with fiscal 2010, according to Japan Aluminium Alloy Refiners Association. Primary aluminium alloy ingot demand for casting and die casting is forecasted to increase by 2.5% to 238,700 tonnes. Both are expected to increase for 2 years in a row. Meanwhile, these forecast figures don’t involve any effects by Tohoku-Kanto Earthquake since the forecast was designed before the quake occurence.

Alloy ingot demand for casting and die casting would be impacted by minus growth of Japanese domestic car production and underlying trend of strong yen. Meanwhile, the demand would be sustained by steady export of completed cars and automotive components for North America, China and Southeast Asian countries.

Alloy ingot demand for rolling products is expected to increase year-on-year in fiscal 2011. The demand would recover for architectural materials and export. Alloy demand for steel making is also forecasted to represent year-on-year plus when Japanese crude steel production is expected to keep the volume as high as in fiscal 2010.