TOKYO -- There are signs that the Japanese aluminum market has bottomed out, according to Junnouke Furukawa, president of Furukawa Electric Co. and chairman of the Japan Aluminium Association.

The executive, noting that shipments of flat-rolled products in March reached an all-time high of 122,603 tonnes, up 1.6 percent from a year earlier, said he sees a "dim light" over the horizon.

But shipments of extruded products in March were down 1.8 percent from the same month last year to 88,507 tonnes, a decline for 21 consecutive months but, it was pointed out, the smallest decline.

Total shipments in March, including flat-rolled and extruded products, reached 211,110 tonnes, up 0.1 percent from last year. Small as it may be, it was the second consecutive monthly increase.

Production in March totaled 207,635 tonnes, down 1.4 percent from a year ago--the 20th consecutive monthly decline. Output consisted of 118,978 tonnes of sheet and other flat-rolled products, down 0.8 percent, and 88,657 tonnes of extrusions, down 2.2 percent.

Aluminum is a relatively young industry compared with steel, Furukawa said, noting that there was no problem of overcapacity in the aluminum industry as contrasted to steel.

March results brought total production in fiscal 1998 ended March 31 to 2,307,697 tonnes, down 7.6 percent. It consisted of 1,270,702 tonnes of flat-rolled products, down 3.4 percent for the first decline in six years, and 1,036,995 tonnes of extrusions, down 12.3 percent.

Shipments in fiscal 1998 totaled 2,311,936 tonnes, down 7.4 percent--the second consecutive decline. It included 1,275,131 tonnes of flat-rolled products, down 3.2 percent for the first decline in six years, and 1,036,805 tonnes of extruded products, down 12.1 percent, according to the association

Changes in Japanese production on a year-to-year basis were: April 1998 (down 10.4 percent May (down 10.7 percent), June (down 9.4 percent), July (down 11.5 percent), August (down 9.0 percent), September (down 10.1 percent), October (down 10.4 percent), November (down 3.8 percent), December (down.5.0 percent), January 1999 (down 5.1 percent), February (down. 2.3 percent) and March (down 1.4 percent).