Japan Indium Import Continues Decreasing in February

Japanese import of indium decreased by 33.3% to 18 tonnes in February from a year earlier, according to the trade statistics by Ministry of Finance. Sputtering target material makers have decreased indium procurement to reduce their inventories. Unit price of imported indium downed by 31.8% to 55,775 yen per kilogram in February from a year ago.Japanese import of rare earths decreased by 4.1% year-on-year in February, though rare earth magnet market keeps growing trend and demand for rare earths maintains strong in China. However, Japanese consumers pay higher prices for Chinese rare earths on which export tariffs are put. Unit price of imported rare earths soared by 24.8% year-on-year in February.Japanese rare metal imports represented year-on-year high increase in February for 8 items including molybdenum, lithium, yttrium, lanthanum and titanium. Molybdenum increased by 29.8% year-on-year. Japanese molybdenum supplier said demand is firm from special steel makers. Titanium import increased by 21.8% year-on-year. Japanese titanium manufacturers keep high operations to meet strong demand from airplanes, plants and motorcycles. Another background is that titanium suppliers have actively expanded output capacities worldwide. Titanium supply became easier than before and unit price of Japanese imported titanium downed by 15.2% year-on-year in February.