By Aya Takada Sept. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Aluminum stockpiles in Japan increased in August for the first time in six months as shipments declined, trading company Marubeni Corp. said today. Inventories in Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka ports gained 10 percent to 192,200 metric tons as of Aug. 31 from a month earlier. Stockpiles were 174,200 tons at the end of July, the lowest level since Marubeni began compiling data in June 1995. Stockpiles rose because of slower shipments in the domestic market amid summer holidays and the delayed arrival of a South American cargo that was scheduled to reach Japan in July, according to Tokyo-based Marubeni, Japan’s largest importer of the light metal. Inventories reached 374,600 tons at the end of February, the highest level since September 1998, as demand slumped amid recession. Volumes then declined as Japanese trading companies and aluminum rolling mills pared purchase volumes under supply contracts this year on anticipation of worsening demand. A breakdown of the Japanese stockpiles data follows: =============================================================== Yokohama Nagoya Osaka Total =============================================================== Aug. 31, 2009 94,550 85,650 12,000 192,200 July 31, 2009 94,300 67,900 12,000 174,200 Aug. 31, 2008 119,000 114,200 12,000 245,200 (Figures are in metric tons.) ===============================================================

Source