Japan Secondary Al Demand Levels Off in August

Japanese secondary aluminium alloy ingot production decreased by 35.6% to 52,912 tonnes in August from a year earlier while the shipment decreased by 34.5% to 54,486 tonnes, according to Japan Aluminium Alloy Refiners Association. The production represented year-to-year minus for 15 straight months and the shipment for 13 months. The demand condition didn’t change remarkably. The domestic demand is leveling off.

The shipment decreased by 34.1% to 30,291 tonnes for die casting and by 38.5% to 12,926 tonnes for casting. Compared with July, both production and shipment decreased by about 10,000 tonnes due to summer holidays.

Domestic major secondary aluminium makers keep their outputs as much as order receipts. Their operating rate seems averagely 70%.