Aluminum Shipments by Japan Gain 8.5%, Expand for 10th Month, Group Says

Japan’s shipments of rolled-aluminum products increased 8.5 percent in September, expanding for the 10th straight month, led by demand from can makers.

Supplies to domestic and export markets climbed to 170,443 metric tons from 157,085 tons a year earlier, the Japan Aluminium Association said in a statement today.

The pace of expansion dropped from 13 percent in August as shipments to carmakers slowed because of an end to subsidy payments by the government to buyers of fuel-efficient models last month, said Koji Iida, head of statistics at the group.

“Demand from the auto industry may weaken further” as they began cutting domestic production this month to cope with a slowdown in sales, Iida said today in Tokyo.

Shipments to can makers, the largest aluminum-consuming sector in Japan, increased 20 percent to 33,913 tons as higher temperatures last month boosted beverage consumption.

Growth in demand from the auto industry slowed to 15 percent in September from 29 percent in August, when vehicle sales in Japan surged by the most in 38 years as car buyers took advantage of government subsidies before the incentive program expired.