Japan Feb aluminium stocks stuck at 10-year high

Aluminium stocks at three major Japanese ports remained pegged at a 10-year high in February, up 3.1 percent from the previous month at 374,600 tonnes, an official at Marubeni Corp <8002.T> said on Friday. The latest figures, for stocks at Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka ports, showed a rise of about 83 percent from a year earlier and marked the seventh straight month of year-on-year rises as demand for the metal remains in a slump. The February figure is the highest since September 1998, when aluminium stocks stood at 401,000 tonnes, the official said. He did not expect port stocks to rise much further as Japanese firms have been reducing purchases, particularly this year. Figures for March will begin to show imports from January when firms began to drastically reduce purchases, he said. "It's hard to imagine there will be a flood of imports," he 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 Feb 28 172,800 186,800 15,000 374,600 Jan 31 171,500 177,700 14,000 363,200 Dec 31 145,800 157,500 13,000 316,300 End-Feb 2008 99,700 88,500 16,000 204,200 source:www.communities.thomsonreuters.com/BaseMetals