Japan July Aluminium Stocks Down 11 pct m/m

Aluminium stocks held at three major Japanese ports fell 11 percent in July from a month earlier due to slowing imports, trading house Marubeni Corp said on Thursday.

Marubeni, which collects data from the key ports of Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka, said aluminium stocks at the ports came to 203,500 at the end of July, down 25,100 tonnes from 228,600 tonnes at the end of June.

"The drop is largely due to less imports at the ports, partly due to delays in some shipments into August," a Marubeni official said.

"There is no major change in demand, which is neither slumping nor increasing. Production at automobile makers is recovering while output of beverage cans is slowing," he said.

The official said aluminium stocks may increase in August when delayed shipments arrive while deliveries remain slow.

Japan, which has to buy nearly all the metal it needs overseas, annually imports about 2 million tonnes of primary aluminium, used in products ranging from computers, airplanes and electronics to the food sector. Japanese shipments of aluminium products eased in June from a year earlier, but demand was firm due to expectations for a recovery from a destructive earthquake in March and ramped-up output to avoid power shortages ahead of the summer.

However, industry officials caution that production may weaken due to power conservation efforts and weigh on manufacturing, especially big electricity users such as the aluminium industry.

The yen's rise near record highs is also threatening Japan's fragile economic recovery, and the prospect of the dollar staying weak is prompting more Japanese companies to seriously consider shifting production overseas.