Japan Jan aluminium stocks at 10-year high

TOKYO, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Aluminium stocks at three major Japanese ports hit a 10-year high in January, rising 14.8 percent from a month earlier to 363,200 tonnes, an official at Marubeni Corp <8002.T> said on Friday. The latest figures, which show stocks at Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka, represented an increase of about 64 percent from a year earlier, and marked the sixth straight month of year-on-year rises. The figure for January is the highest since September 1998, when aluminium stocks stood at 401,000 tonnes, the official said. The company official said the latest figures reflected sharply shrinking demand as major automakers announce massive cuts in production. The build-up in aluminium stocks was likely to peak out soon, but the pace of decline in stocks was expected to remain very moderate, the official said. Demand for aluminium, used in construction, transport and packaging, has been hit by the economic recession. Following are details of Japanese aluminium stocks, including month-on-month and year-on-year comparisons (in tonnes): Yokohama Nagoya Osaka Total Jan 31 171,500 177,700 14,000 363,200 Dec 31 145,800 157,500 13,000 316,300 Nov 30 125,000 134,500 12,000 271,500 End-Jan 2008 118,300 91,200 12,000 221,500.