This volume reports on the market situation in Japan for May 2024, particularly the supply and demand of aluminum products including semi-fabricated products and aluminum metal.   A year or so has passed since the end of the pandemic and automobile production has been on the road to steady recovery.  The development and investments for lithium-ion batteries and facility expansions for semiconductor production are nearing the hoped-for stage.  We will closely observe the demand-supply trends for both domestic and overseas markets in the latter half of 2024, from the July-September quarter onwards.