TOKYO - Estimated aluminium stocks at the Japanese ports of Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka fell 18 percent month-on-month to 201,500 tonnes as of the end of March, trading firm Marubeni Corp. said on Friday.
The decline in stocks to the lowest level since November 2002 was due partly to a delay in the arrival of shipments into April --- 18,000 tonnes from Brazil and 11,000 tonnes from South Africa, a company official said.
Another factor lowering stocks last month was a general attitude of Japanese companies to curb purchases ahead of their book closings at the end of March, the official said.
While auto makers show healthy demand for the metal and production of beverage cans usually picks up the pace from March, it is still uncertain if robust demand lies behind the low level of stocks, he added.
"I would say demand is strong and consistent if the next data again shows stocks of a little more than 200,000 tonnes," he said.
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