Japanese Secondary Al Shipment Slows in May with Less Business Days

Japanese secondary aluminium and aluminium alloy ingot production increased by 26.1% to 65,087 tonnes in May from a year earlier while the shipment increased by 26.9% to 64,552 tonnes, announced by Japan Aluminium Alloy Refiners Association. Both production and shipment represented year-to-year increase for 6 straight months. Compared with May 2008, the production was 28.2% lower and the shipment was less 30%.

By month-to-month comparison, the production decreased by 10.3% and the shipment declined by 10.7% from April due to Japanese long holidays in early May. Both production and shipment represented month-to-month decline for 2 months in a row.

The shipment increased by 22.4% to 35,834 tonnes for die casting in May from a year earlier while increased by 33.2% to 16,354 tonnes for casting. The shipment for extrusion doubled to 3,211 tonnes. Compared with April, the shipment decreased by 8.9% for die casting and lowered by 17.3% for casting.

Raw material arrivals at secondary aluminium and aluminium alloy makers totaled 85,819 tonnes in May, decreasing by 12.1% from the previous month. Base metal procurement decreased by 15.8% to 9,285 tonnes from domestic market while dropped by 31.9% to 4,771 tonnes from imports. Raw material consumption was slow in May due to less operating days and consequently the makers’ material inventory increased by 2.8% at the end of May from a month ago.