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According to the Japan Aluminium Association (JAA), Japan’s aluminum demand, including the domestic and exporting demand, was 882,500 tons in the first quarter of this year, falling by 4.7% compared to the same quarter a year ago. Among them, domestic demand was down by 4.1% to around 849,000 tons, and exports dropped by 17.8% to around 34,000 tons.

The transportation industry has the largest aluminum demand in Japan, accounting for nearly 45% of the total. However, certification fraud by some automobile manufacturing companies has caused a significant decline in the output of major Japanese automobile companies. Therefore, aluminum demand in the transportation industry fell by 1.2% year on year to around 382,000 tons. Demand from the construction industry, the second-largest consumer, also had a decrease of 2.5% to 124,000 tons due to a decline in new housing starts and the use of aluminum in homes.

In the first quarter, Japan’s primary aluminum imports dropped by 2.8% year on year to 244,000 tons, and aluminum and aluminum alloy scrap imports slid by 20.7% year on year to 22,000 tons.