UPDATE 2-Japan aluminium stocks hit record low in July

* July stocks down 16 pct mth/mth, 14 pct yr/yr * Stocks at record low but no supply tightness seen * Jan-June aluminium imports down 38 pct, help shave stocks (Adds date for import data, link to graphic) By Miho Yoshikawa TOKYO, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Aluminium stocks held at keyJapanese ports plunged to a record low in July, trading houseMarubeni Corp (8002.T) said on Wednesday, as imports dropped dueto a slump in demand. The trading house said aluminium stocks held at the ports ofYokohama, Nagoya and Osaka totalled 174,200 tonnes at the end ofJuly, down 16 percent from the previous month and down 14 percentfrom a year earlier. A company official said it was the lowest level sinceMarubeni began collecting the data in June 1995, though he saidthere was no supply tightness as demand remains stuck belowlevels prior to the economic crisis. "We believe that stocks have returned to levels appropriateto current demand," he said. Demand for aluminium, used widely in the construction andauto industries, has tumbled since late last year as the world'sNo.2 economy battles its worst downturn in half a century. The previous low was 178,100 tonnes in November 2007, thecompany official said. "Supplies tightened then, but a simple comparison of thefigures does not provide a true picture of the situation as theeconomic conditions of the two periods are totally different," he said. Aluminium stocks have fallen significantly since ballooningto a 10-year high of 374,600 tonnes at the end of February, asJapan heavily cut imports and aggressively consumed stocks. "There is no doubt that the sharp reduction in imports playeda major role in cutting down stocks," he said. Stocks have fallen as supplies going out have outpaced thosecoming in, he said. Japan's imports of aluminium in January-June fell about 38percent from the same period in 2008, Ministry of Finance datashows. To see graphic of aluminium port stocks and imports click on: here July import data will be available at the end of August. Still, some data has shown signs of a recovery in domesticdemand, with Japan's aluminium shipments in June having risen14.5 percent from the previous month to touch this year's high of158,605 tonnes. Although the June figure is still down 21.6 percent from ayear earlier, it was the fourth straight monthly increase indomestic and overseas sales, raising hope in the industry thatthe worst of the slump may be over. [ID:nT187542] Signs of a nascent recovery in auto demand are also a welcomedevelopment, although aluminium industry officials caution thatmore time will be needed for metal demand to return to levelsseen before the economic crisis. Japan's Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) plans to raise its globaloutput target for the year to March 2010 by 3 percent to 6.5million units, a Japanese daily reported at the weekend. [ID:nT218061] Following are details of Japanese aluminium stocks, includingmonth-on-month and year-on-year comparisons (in tonnes): Yokohama Nagoya Osaka Total Jul 31 94,300 67,900 12,000 174,200 Jun 30 106,900 87,900 12,800 207,600 May 31 122,000 107,800 13,500 243,300 Apr 30 142,300 140,300 13,000 295,600 End-Jul 2008 91,400 98,300 12,600 202,300 (Reporting by Miho Yoshikawa, Editing by Michael Watson)