Aluminum Shipments by Japan Increase for Ninth Month

Sept. 28 （Bloomberg） -- Japan’s shipments of rolled- aluminum products gained 13 percent in August, expanding for the ninth straight month, as demand increased from the auto and beverage-can industries.

Supplies to domestic and export markets climbed to 157,112 metric tons from 138,920 tons a year earlier, the Japan Aluminium Association said in a statement today. The pace of expansion accelerated from 7.8 percent in July.

Demand from can makers, the largest users in Japan, increased 14 percent as a heat wave last month boosted beverage consumption. Shipments to the auto industry expanded 29 percent as vehicle sales in Japan surged by the most in 38 years in August as car buyers took advantage of government subsidies before the incentive program expired this month.

There may be 20 to 30 percent drop in demand from the auto industry as carmakers will start cutting production in Japan from October, Masateru Yoshihara, the association’s vice chairman, told reporters in Tokyo.

The nation’s sales of cars, trucks and buses, excluding minicars, rose 47 percent to 290,789 in August from a year earlier, according to the Japan Automobile Dealers Association. The surge was the biggest since December 1972.

Subsidy Program

The domestic sales of Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, may drop 28 percent in the fiscal second half beginning Oct. 1, according to Yoshiaki Kawano, an analyst at consulting company IHS Automotive. The government ended subsidies for buyers of fuel-efficient cars earlier this month.

Demand from automakers is expected to recover in the first quarter of next year after an expected drop in the three months ending Dec. 31, Takashi Ishiyama, the association’s chairman, told reporters.

Exports of aluminum products jumped 20 percent to 15,686 tons in August even as the yen appreciated on increased demand from China and Southeast Asia, the report showed.

The Japanese currency climbed to a 15-year high against the dollar earlier this month, prompting Japan to intervene in the market for the first time since 2004. The yen gained 2.6 percent in August.

Members of the association include Furukawa-Sky Aluminum Corp., Kobe Steel Ltd. and Nippon Light Metal Co.