Japan, the largest buyer of primary aluminum from strike-hit BHP Billiton's Hillside smelter in South Africa, has not seen any impact yet as the next cargo to be delivered to the country is set to depart only next week, Tokyo traders said Friday.
Shipping schedule changes at the end of the year are typical, and there is little concern over possible shipping delays, even if the strike at the smelter stretched to next week, traders added.
BHP Billiton has not communicated with its Japanese clients about the strike that started on December 8, traders said.
Six hundred members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa downed tools, demanding higher wages.
Meanwhile, traders said that shipments from the plant have already been delayed by several weeks, though the reasons were unclear, traders said. The October shipments arrived in the last week of November to Yokohama and Nagoya, they added.
Traders also said Japan is unlikely to run short of aluminum as the country's warehouses in Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka hold stocks of around 210,000 mt, which many traders consider high.
The strike is unlikely to impact the Japanese market and the ongoing aluminum premium negotiations for the coming quarter, traders said.
According to South Africa's trade data, the country's primary aluminum exports totaled Rand 686 million （$100 million） in September 2010. BHP Billiton is the only aluminum producer in South Africa. The 700,000 mt/year Hillside smelter produces ingot and T-bars for exports, but no alloys or shaped products.
The South African trade data showed that 75% of its aluminum exports were to Asia.
The September aluminum exports to Japan were valued at Rand 265 million, those to South Korea Rand 154 million, to Switzerland Rand 130 million, and to China Rand 11 million.
--Mayumi Watanabe
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