Japan Feb aluminium stocks up 0.8 pct m/m - Marubeni

* Stocks still within appropriate levels

* Fiscal year-end may keep stocks steady in March

TOKYO, March 10 (Reuters) - Aluminium stocks held at three major Japanese ports totalled 200,700 tonnes at the end of February, up 1,500 tonnes or 0.8 percent from a month earlier, trading house Marubeni Corp  said on Wednesday.

Stocks held at these ports marked a 10-year high at the end of February 2009, but started falling and hit 169,900 tonnes at the end of September, their lowest since Marubeni began keeping records about 14 years ago.

A Marubeni official said an inventory level around 200,000 tonnes was not a cause of concern.

"When stocks fall to around 180,000 tonnes, it becomes a bit tight, and when they rise to around 230,000 tonnes, that is worrying. But current levels are appropriate," the official said.

He expected stocks to remain at similar levels at the end of March, when the Japanese fiscal year ends and when consumers of aluminium, used by the transport and packaging industries, tend to withhold from buying more than they need ahead of their book closings.

The global economic crisis reduced demand for the metal as automakers and other manufacturers slashed production after late 2008, but demand for aluminium has returned to about 80-85 percent of levels seen before the crisis.

Japanese shipments of aluminium products rose 23.1 percent in January from a year earlier, for the second straight month of year-on-year increases, underpinned by a recovery in demand in the auto, electrical appliances and food sectors.

Aluminium term talks, which started two weeks ago, are still ongoing with major buyers, after at least one deal was agreed at $122-$124 per tonne for April-June last week.

That was down about 5 percent from a 14-year high done in the first quarter, and marking the first drop in premiums in a year.

Marubeni collects data from the key ports of Yokohama, Nagoya and Osaka.

Following are details of Japanese aluminium stocks, including month-on-month and year-on-year comparisons (in tonnes):

           Yokohama     Nagoya     Osaka    Total   

Feb 28                98,700       88,500    13,500   200,700 

Jan 31                90,900       94,300    14,000   199,200 

Dec 31                86,700       92,600    14,000   193,300 

Nov 30                81,500       87,000    12,000   180,500 

End-Feb 2009   172,800      186,800    15,000   374,600 

(Reporting by Chikako Mogi; Editing by Chris Gallagher)