UPDATE 1-Japan 2009/10 aluminium shipments seen -11 pct

* Aluminium shipments seen at 23-year low in 2009/10 * Feb aluminium product shipments down 38.7 pct y/y TOKYO, March 27 (Reuters) - Japan's shipments of aluminium products in the year starting on April 1 are expected to fall 11.1 percent from this financial year, an industry body said on Friday. The Japan Aluminium Association also said aluminium product shipments in February fell 38.7 percent from a year earlier to 112,991 tonnes. Demand for the metal, used in packaging and transport, has plunged as the economic crisis causes consumption to shrink, leading to a buildup in stocks and forcing manufacturers, notably automakers, to curb production. Western world unwrought aluminium stocks fell to 1.619 million tonnes at the end of February, compared with a revised 1.668 million tonnes in January, data from International Aluminium Institute showed on Thursday. [ID:nLQ249086] Marubeni Corp <8002.T>, which tracks aluminium stocks at three key Japanese ports, said this month that stocks at Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka remained pegged at a 10-year high in February, up 3.1 percent from January at 374,600 tonnes. [ID:nT79453] Industry sources say many firms in Japan, which must import virtually all the aluminium it needs, have been slashing purchases because of poor demand and high stocks.