Japan Sept aluminium shipments fall 18.3 pct yr/yr

* Sept mth-on-mth shipments up after 1st dip in 6 mths in Aug * Year-earlier drop narrows marginally from August TOKYO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Japanese shipments of aluminium products fell 18.3 percent in September from a year earlier to 157,085 tonnes, but were up from 138,920 tonnes in August, data from the Japan Aluminium Association showed. Shipments fell on a monthly basis for the first time in six months in August, down 16.6 percent from July, as beer shipments hit record lows and a mild summer cut sales of other beverages sold in aluminium cans. Industry officials had pointed to previous month-on-month improvements as a sign of a recovery in demand, saying they expected demand for aluminium to recover to about 80 percent of year-earlier levels by March 2010. Year-on-year declines have been narrowing from near 40 percent drop earlier this year, as demand from the automobile and semiconductor industries picks up. Shipments fell 18.7 percent in August from a year earlier. Japanese demand for metals, such as copper and aluminium, plunged from late last year as the worst global economic downturn in decades hit consumer spending and and forced manufacturers to cut output. (Reporting by Chikako Mogi; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)