UPDATE 1-Japan Nov aluminium shipments down 1.0 pct yr/yr

TOKYO, Dec 25 (Reuters) - Japanese shipments of aluminium products fell 1.0 percent in November from a year earlier to 164,859 tonnes, industry data showed on Friday.

That was down slightly from 165,480 tonnes in October, the Japan Aluminium Association data showed.

It was the 14th consecutive month of year-on-year falls in shipments, but the fall was sharply smaller than October's 14.3 percent drop from the year-earlier level.

Year-on-year declines have been narrowing from a near 40 percent drop earlier this year as demand from the automobile and semiconductor industries picks up.

The November figures were down 0.4 percent from October.

Japanese demand for metals such as copper and aluminium plunged from late last year as the worst global economic downturn in decades hit consumer spending and forced manufacturers to cut output.

Demand was slowly returning and stabilising, but industry officials remained cautious about the outlook.

Japan's apparent demand for aluminium has finally recovered close to levels seen before the economic crisis at the end of last year, but could slow or even dip again next year if the country's fragile economy stalls.

Aluminium stocks held at three key Japanese ports rose for a second consecutive month to 180,500 tonnes at the end of November, trading house Marubeni Corp said. Some of the purchases were apparently made to build up stocks. A Marubeni official said he did not expect further moves to boost stocks in the coming months.

(Reporting by Chikako Mogi)

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