Japan Aug aluminium shipments at 19-mth low

　　Japanese shipments of aluminium products fell to their lowest level since January 2010, hit by slowing exports to Southeast Asia and China  and a slower-than-expected pick up in domestic demand, an industry group said on Wednesday.

　　The Japan Aluminium Association data showed shipments of Japanese aluminium products fell 1.5 percent in August from a year earlier to 154,684 tonnes, down year-on-year for the third month in a row.

　　Shipments in August, the lowest since January 2010 when they stood at 150,373 tonnes, declined 9.5 percent from 170,916 tonnes in July for the second consecutive monthly drop.

　　"We received better-than-expected orders for April-June and expected July-September orders to undergo adjustments, but data suggests these adjustments might be more severe than we previously thought," the association's chairman, Masateru Yoshihara, told a news conference.

　　"It's worrying that the economy in the United States and Europe appears to have become lacklustre. Exports to Asia are not as strong as before. But while exports are below our projections, they are still growing," said Yoshihara, who is also president and chief executive officer of Furukawa-Sky Aluminium Corp .

　　The association plans to provide its demand outlook for the current fiscal year after data for September is available.

　　Shipments of flat-rolled aluminium, used in beverage cans, fell 4.6 percent from a year earlier due to weak demand.

　　Exports fell 12.9 percent from a year-earlier for the seventh consecutive month of year-on-year declines.

　　The outlook for aluminium demand in Japan remains unclear as the government struggles to come up with effective steps to help companies deal  with a stronger yen, a factor that threatens to stunt Japan's recovery from the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March.

　　"Our industry itself has no means to fend off the strength of the yen and we are losing against overseas competitors," said

　　Shun-ichi Shiraichi, a vice chairman of the association who is also an executive officer at chemical maker Showa Denko K.K. .