Japan end-Nov aluminium stocks up from Oct

* End-Nov stocks down 33.5 pct year-on-year * Spot buying helps boost port stocks TOKYO, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Aluminium stocks held at three key Japanese ports rose for a second consecutive month to 180,500 tonnes at the end of November, up 5.4 percent from October, trading house Marubeni Corp said on Friday. Stocks had fallen to 169,900 tonnes at the end of September, the lowest since Marubeni began taking records about 14 years ago. "There were some imports that were purchased on a spot basis," an official with Marubeni said. Japanese firms typically buy under long-term contracts, and usually only turn to the spot market when their supplies from such contracts are insufficient to cover their needs. Some of the purchases were apparently made to build up stocks. "I think demand is beginning to stabilise," the official said but added that he did not expect further moves to boost stocks in the coming months. Marubeni collects data from the key ports of Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka. Japan's demand for aluminium, widely used in packaging and transportation, plunged after the economic crisis, as large manufacturers cut production. Demand has returned to about 80 percent of the previous year's level but industry officials are worried that the pace of the recovery will slow down next year after the impact from initial government stimulus measures have had their affect. Moreover, demand from the construction sector, a major consumer, remains in a slump. Following are details of Japanese aluminium stocks, including month-on-month and year-on-year comparisons (in tonnes): Yokohama Nagoya Osaka Total Nov 30 81,500 87,000 12,000 180,500 Oct 31 81,600 76,600 13,000 171,200 Sept 30 84,600 73,300 12,000 169,900 Aug 31 94,550 85,650 12,000 192,200 End-Nov 2008 125,000 134,500 12,000 271,500 (Reporting by Miho Yoshikawa; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)