Japanese Construction Downturn Hurts Aluminium Price

PRLog (Press Release) – Dec 13, 2007 – Japan is buying less aluminium and the commodity price has lost 15 per cent in 2007 due to the resulting over supply.

A housing slump has been prompted by the tightening of building regulations in Japan, which is the largest importer of aluminium in Asia, and the premium usually paid by Japanese customers is now the lowest in 18 months.

It's hard to expect a recovery in aluminum demand in the first half of next year,'' Akio Shibata, director at Marubeni Research Institute, told Bloomberg.

"I don't see any factor in the domestic market to boost aluminum prices."

The price of aluminium for immediate delivery fell 0.3 per cent to $2,402 per tonne yesterday as experts predicted the market will continue in surplus for a third year in a row in 2009.

Global supply looks set to keep exceeding demand as Indian and Middle Eastern smelters are increasing their production.

Further analysis of the global aluminium market could be supplied by Aranca, an end-to-end provider of on-demand, custom investment, business and economic research.