Japan's Aluminum Products Output Declines 0.7% in May

June 27 -- Japan's output of aluminum products fell 0.7 percent in May to 199,632 tons from a year earlier, driven by weaker demand for cans and construction, the Japan Aluminium Association said in a statement.

Output of so-called rolling-mill products dropped 0.1 percent from a year earlier to 120,214 tons, while extruded products decreased 1.6 percent to 79,418 tons, the association said today in a statement.

Association members include Furukawa-Sky Aluminum Corp., Kobe Steel Ltd., and Nippon Light Metal Co.

Details of the month's output, shipments and inventories are as follows:

               May '07   Apr '07   Mar '07   May/Apr   May Y/Y
                                                 (%)     (%)

OUTPUT         199,632   198,264   207,265       0.7     -0.7

Flat-rolled    120,214   117,737   121,587       2.1     -0.1

Extruded        79,418    80,527    85,678      -1.4     -1.6

SHIPMENTS      196,856   195,785   203,846       0.5     -0.5

Flat-rolled    118,091   116,253   119,902       1.6      0.1

Extruded        78,765    79,532    83,944      -1.0     -1.4

INVENTORY       81,813    80,096    76,459       2.1      4.9

Flat-rolled     69,425    67,025    65,526       3.6      3.8

Extruded        12,388    13,071    10,933      -5.2     11.5

FOIL
Output         10,817    11,962    12,331       -9.6     -0.5

Shipment       10,798    11,902    12,552       -9.3      2.0

Inventory       6,959     6,927     6,845        0.5     -4.0