Japanese die cast aluminium output may fall by 26% YoY

According to Japan Die Casting Association's latest outlook report, Japan's die cast aluminium products output over April 2009 to March 2010 is expected to fall by 25.8% YoY. The association conducted a survey on the 2009-2010 outlook among 193 die casters in the country and forecast that production would fall by 25.8% YoY to 662,350 tonnes. In the first half of the year, output is estimated to fall by 40.4% YoY. Recovery is expected in the second half with the year on year decline in output narrowing to 3%. Production during the April 2008 to March 2009 period was 893,102 tonnes. Over 80% of the output was used for automotive components. Demand from the automotive industry is expected to fall by 42.7% YoY in the first half and by just 2% in the second half of the fiscal year 2009-2010. (Sourced from www.platts.com)